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Become a memberThe Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office has launched an investigation into former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili.
On Friday, local media reported that the reason for the investigation was due to Okruashvili’s failure to appear before the commission investigating the activities of the United National Movement (UNM).
Okruashvili has had a long political history in Georgia, and has often found himself surrounded in controversy. He was among the leaders of the 2003 Rose Revolution, in which the government of Eduard Shevardnadze was overthrown and Mikheil Saakashvili’s UNM came to power.
He served in several posts under Saakashvili, including as Interior Minister, Defence Minister, and as for a short time, Minister of Economic Development.
The Prosecutor General’s office previously began an investigation into Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the opposition group Strong Georgia, on the same charges.
Georgian prosecutors launch investigation into opposition leader Mamuka Khazaradze
In February, the ruling Georgian Dream party established a commission to punish the former ruling United National Movement (UNM) party.
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Under Article 349 of the Criminal Code, which refers to the failure to comply with the request of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Georgian Parliament, Okruashvili faces a sentence of up to one year in prison, as well as a fine. He could also be barred from holding public office for up to three years.
According to the parliament, Okruashvili was supposed to appear before the commission on Wednesday where the discussion around the August 2008 War was taking place.
The commission to investigate the UNM’s time in power was established in February, and followed repeated pledges by Georgian Dream to punish the UNM — the ruling party has particularly focused on accusing the UNM of provoking and starting the August 2008 War.
The UNM, which ran in the October 2024 elections under the Unity — National Movement group alongside the Strategy Aghmashenebeli party, was in power between 2003–2012, and is most associated with Saakashvili.
At a briefing on Thursday, Georgian Dream’s parliamentary leader Mamuka Mdinaradze said that the commission’s mandate, named the ‘Interim Fact-Finding Commission on the Activities of the Regime and the Officials of the Political Regime of 2003–2012’, is expanding.
‘They are constantly engaged in attempts to overthrow or violently change the constitutional order of Georgia and to oppose the constitutional order of Georgia in other ways. In short, after 2012, they have committed numerous anti-state actions that require appropriate legal assessment and response’, he claimed.
Georgian Dream vows to ban opposition parties
Before the parliamentary elections, one of Georgian Dream’s campaign promises was to outlaw their political rivals and ban ‘pseudo-liberal ideology’.
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Okruashvili’s checkered past
During his tenure in office, Okruashvili was vocal in pushing for Georgia to retake control of South Ossetia, threatening to resign from government if this did not happen.
However, in 2006 he resigned from the government anyways, going on to accuse Saakashvili of abusing his power.
He said in 2007 that the president had personally ordered him to murder Badri Patarkatsishvili, a Georgian oligarch and opposition figure. He also said Saakashvili had ordered the beating of opposition MP Valery Gelashvili in 2005 and hinted that the death of former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was not accidental.
Two days after making these statements, he was arrested at the office of his newly formed opposition party on charges of extortion, money laundering, abuse of office, and negligence.
After withdrawing his allegations and pleading guilty, Okruashvili was released and received political asylum in France.
Since returning to Georgia in 2012, Okruashvili has remained inactive in Georgian politics.
In the 2020 parliamentary elections, his party, Victorious Georgia, won just 0.2% of the vote, failing to gain any seats.
Following the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Okruashvili traveled to fight alongside Ukraine in the International Legion.
Georgian Dream establishes commission to punish former ruling UNM party
The United National Movement (UNM) was the ruling party from 2003–2012.
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