Georgia
Tbilisi court remands businessperson and ex-Georgian Dream supporter to pre-trial detention
Chikvaidze threatened to publish materials against the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Georgia
Georgian businessperson starts ‘full hunger strike’ after being remanded to pre-trial detention
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Become a memberBusinessperson Giorgi Chikvaidze, a recent critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party who was placed in pre-trial detention as part of a case related to embezzlement and misappropriation of funds, has stated in a letter that he has begun a ‘full hunger strike’.
RFE/RL reported that they were provided with a letter sent from prison by Chikvaidze’s brother, Dimitri Chikvaidze, in which he wrote that he ‘will not [accept] oppression by this system’.
‘From today I am going on a full hunger strike. This time too I will stand out in my principles, even if it costs me my life, I will do it out of love for my country’, the letter read, according to RFE/RL.
It is unclear what Chikvaidze meant by a ‘full hunger strike’ and whether he intended to refuse drinking water.
In the letter, Chikvaidze wrote that ‘responsibility for what happened’ would lie with ‘the Russian regime, Russian agent Bidzina Ivanishvili, and corrupt [Prosecutor General] Giorgi Gabitashvili’. He did not specify exactly what they would hold responsibility for.
On Tuesday, the Tbilisi City Court remanded Chikvaidze to pre-trial detention in connection with charges related to the deceiving of Adjara-based businessperson Elguja Turmanidze, for whom Chikvaidze was supposed to bring a yacht from Italy.
According to the prosecution’s version, Chikvaidze ultimately neither delivered the yacht nor returned the money paid by Turmanidze.
Turmanidze’s lawyers filed a complaint against Chikvaidze and his business partner Irakli Papiashvili in January 2024.
The criminal article under which they were charged carries a prison sentence of up to 12 years. Until Tuesday, both were free on bail, set at ₾50,000 ($18,000).
Tbilisi court remands businessperson and ex-Georgian Dream supporter to pre-trial detention
Chikvaidze threatened to publish materials against the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
For years, Chikvaidze had expressed support for Georgian Dream, but from 2024 he openly distanced himself from the ruling party.
According to Chikvaidze, his disagreement with the government began in 2022 when he refused to help Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska evade sanctions by letting his yacht enter Georgia illegally and then cross into Russia.
In recent years, a number of journalists and activists in Georgia have resorted to hunger strikes as a form of protest against accusations made against them by law enforcement officials.
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