Georgian prosecutors launch investigation into opposition leader Mamuka Khazaradze

Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has launched a criminal probe into Mamuka Khazaradze, one of the leaders of the opposition group Strong Georgia, for failing to appear before the parliamentary commission investigating alleged crimes committed by the previous government.

On Tuesday, the Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to local media that an investigation had been initiated under Article 349 of the Criminal Code, which refers to the failure to comply with the request of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Parliament of Georgia.

If Khazaradze is found guilty, he could face a fine or imprisonment for up to one year. He could also be barred from holding public office for up to three years.

The commission, named the ‘Interim Fact-Finding Commission on the Activities of the Regime and the Officials of the Political Regime of 2003–2012’, summoned Khazaradze on Tuesday to discuss the case of businessperson Jemal Leonidze.

Leonidze has disputed the seizure by the previous government under the United National Movement of his property and his related arrest. He has claimed that Khazaradze, the founder of TBC Bank, was also involved in the case.

In particular, Leonidze said the case concerned  alleged business racketeering, as he owned Magnati, a chain of petrol stations, during the UNM’s time in government. Leonidze claimed that Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, who were private citizens at the time, were involved in the case as representatives of TBC.

In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, Khazaradze called the investigative commission a ‘circus’, and said he refused to attend.

He said that despite the judiciary being under the control of a ‘clan’ of judges loyal to Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, he had ‘never fled justice’.

‘In this case, too, [if you have questions] go to court and if you have something to resolve, let’s resolve it there’, he said.

The commission also summoned Japaridze, Khazaradze’s party colleague and business partner, concerning the same case, but he also refused to appear.

On Tuesday, Japaridze wrote on Facebook that he did not consider ‘this so-called investigative commission to be established on the basis of the law!’

‘I believe that this is a one-party group that is trying to blacken political opponents with slander and fabricated accusations. This is a planned slanderous show, in which I do not intend to participate!’

The commission said they planned to appeal to the Prosecutor Office to also launch an investigation into Japaridze on the same charges.

‘The commission is illegitimate and illegal’

Other opposition groups have also rejected the legitimacy of the commission.

Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Change, said they would also not participate in the sessions of the commission.

Gvaramia claimed the commission was ‘illegitimate and illegal, just like the Parliament of Georgia’.

‘The goal of this process is to divert attention from the most serious political crisis in the country to Russian propaganda topics, which is not in the interest of us, the citizens of Georgia, but only of the Russian oligarch [referring to Bidzina Ivanishvili]. We are not going to give the oligarch the opportunity to do this’.

‘We express our support to Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, who refused to participate in Ivanishvili’s farce’, he stated.

After expressing solidarity with Khazaradze and Japaridze, Giorgi Vashadze, a member of the opposition group Unity – National Movement and leader of the Strategy Agmashenebeli party, stated that the work of the commission was ‘another farce’.

‘Ivanishvili wants to talk about events from almost 20 years ago, when today, as a result of his own violence, hundreds of innocent citizens have been beaten and arrested on Rustaveli Avenue.’

Georgians throughout the country are continuing to protest Georgian Dream’s policies and the results of the October 2024 parliamentary elections, which gave the ruling party a large majority with 54% of the vote.

The political crisis in the country deepened when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced in late November that the government was halting Georgia’s EU bid ‘until 2028’, sparking daily mass protests during which more than 400 demonstrators were reported to have been detained thus far.

Since the protests began, law enforcement officers and unidentified masked people have assaulted a number of protesters, including tens of journalists covering the protests.

Vice speaker of Georgian parliament calls journalist severely beaten by police a ‘crooked person’

Guram Rogava was severely injured after being beaten by a riot police officer during a crackdown on a pro-EU demonstration.

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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 party 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 former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

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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