Kavelashvili pardons two jailed opposition leaders, citing participation in municipal elections
Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has pardoned opposition Lelo — Strong Georgia leaders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze two and a half months after they were jailed. Both politicians, alongside others, were sentenced to eight months in June for boycotting the ruling Georgian Dream party’s anti-opposition parliamentary commission.
Both of them were released from Tbilisi Prison a few hours after Kavelashvili’s decision was announced, with Khazaradze describing the move as an attempt to discredit his party in the eyes of the government’s opponents.
Kavelashvili announced the amnesty on Friday. According to the statement, he made this decision so that ‘no one would even have the pretext to say’ that the October municipal elections, in which Lelo is participating, are being held ‘under conditions of restricted competitiveness’.
Kavelashvili said he made his decision despite believing that the elections would be held ‘in a competitive environment even under [Khazaradze’s and Japaridze’s] imprisonment’.
He added that this was also despite the fact that both politicians had rejected his July offer of a pardon, which was issued to imprisoned political leaders whose parties were set to participate in the local elections.
‘[With this], they tried to insult the institution of the president’, Kavelashvili said.
‘I call on all electoral subjects to contribute to holding the local elections in a healthy and peaceful environment’, he added.
Accordingly, the pardon decision did not extend to other opposition politicians imprisoned for boycotting the same commission, including leaders of the Coalition for Change and Strategy Aghmashenebeli.
They have stated that they will not participate in the local vote.
Lelo’s decision is unchanged
Kavelashvili’s decision has reignited the debate over the advisability of participating in the municipal elections.
Unlike Lelo and For Georgia, other opposition parties — including two major coalitions — are boycotting the vote, viewing participation as legitimising the Georgian Dream government, which the opposition has refused to recognise since the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections, marred by major violations.
The only elections in which the parties have agreed to participate are the snap parliamentary elections.
Their position was reinforced by post-election developments, including Georgian Dream’s EU U-turn, the brutal violence at subsequent counter-demonstrations, the adoption of several restrictive laws, and the arrest of opposition politicians — including Khazaradze, Japaridze, and six others.
For its part, Lelo promoted a different interpretation, saying that their participation would strengthen the anti-government momentum and prevent Georgian Dream from gaining full control over all state institutions.
Commenting on Kavelashvili's decision on Friday, Giorgi Butikashvili, a member of the boycotting opposition group Coalition for Change — whose leaders were jailed in parallel with Khazaradze and Japaridze — said the pardon confirmed that Lelo, by participating in the elections, ‘gave legitimacy to the dictator’.
‘I don’t think there was a direct deal, but an unwritten agreement took place’, he added, suggesting that Lelo’s participation in the elections is precisely what serves the ruling party’s aim of gaining legitimacy.
Tamar Chergoleishvili, leader of the Federalists party, which is also boycotting the elections, called on Lelo to refrain from participating in the vote, arguing that Georgian Dream and its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili ‘need the so-called local elections to be legitimised’.
‘By doing so, [Lelo] would unite the opposition community’, she added.
A similar appeal was voiced by Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the opposition Droa party within the Coalition for Change:
‘Whatever Georgian Dream may have planned, the decision is in Lelo’s hands — withdrawing from the elections would destroy Georgian Dream’s scheme’, she said, adding that ‘it’s up to Lelo whether to get caught in the trap or not’.
After being released from prison, Khazaradze and Japaridze said they respect the views of their opposition colleagues, but their decision is final.
‘We made the decision to participate in the elections after careful consideration and weighing all factors’, Japaridze told journalists, claiming that he and Khazaradze were imprisoned precisely because of their potential participation in the elections.
‘Everyone has the right to boycott, and no one can prevent that, but at the same time, we must not disappoint the hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters and voters who will come to the polls on 4 October’, he added.
For his part, Khazaradze said the pardon decision was unexpected and that its sole purpose was to sow conflict and generate negative publicity against Lelo.
‘If, in the coming days, the so-called president does not release the remaining political prisoners, who are imprisoned under exactly the same charges, it will be yet another clear demonstration that Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream, and its president are using Georgia’s legislation for their personal interest’, he said.
A similar sentiment was voiced by a member of the Lelo – Strong Georgia coalition, who said the pardon was a ‘malicious’ decision by the government intended to give the public the impression that Lelo had reconciled with the authorities.
Nevertheless, Elisashvili said that the party will still participate in the elections.
‘We intend to take part in the elections, and it is precisely in these elections that we must strike a decisive blow to Georgian Dream. It’s obvious — they are pardoning Mamuka and Badri to undermine us’, he added.
Why the arrests happened
Khazaradze and Japaridze were among the eight current and former politicians sentenced to months-long prison terms after refusing to appear before Georgian Dream’s parliamentary commission.
The commission was set up in February ostensibly to investigate the tenure of the United National Movement (UNM), following repeated pledges by Georgian Dream to punish the formerly ruling party.
Initially, its mandate was limited to the UNM’s years in government (2003–2012), but it was later expanded to cover the period up to the present day — effectively giving Georgian Dream free reign to target virtually any opposition figure.
Criminal cases were launched against those who refused to attend the commission’s hearings — if found guilty, those charged could be fined or sentenced to up to a year in prison. They could also be banned from holding public office or engaging in certain activities for up to three years.
Eventually, in addition to the Lelo leaders, the heads of the opposition Coalition for Change — Nika Melia, Nika Gvaramia, and Zurab Japaridze — were arrested for boycotting the commission, along with Strategy Aghmashenebeli leader Giorgi Vashadze and former MP Givi Targamadze.
In addition, all of them were banned from holding public office for two years.
The commission presented its conclusions on Tuesday, accusing the UNM government of crimes and of instigating the 2008 war. The ruling party has repeatedly stated that it intends to use the investigation’s findings to ban Georgia’s opposition groups.
The arrests took place amid debates within opposition parties about whether to participate in the municipal vote.
In mid-July, Lelo and For Georgia signed a deal to support neutral candidates in mayoral races and for majoritarian council seats.
In Tbilisi, Lelo and For Georgia’s candidate will be Lelo’s secretary-general, Irakli Kupradze. He will run against the city’s incumbent mayor and Georgian Dream’s secretary-general, Kakha Kaladze.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
