Former Georgian Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who is already in jail, has been handed new criminal charges for an incident that occured years ago, his lawyer Mamuka Chabashvili has said.
Chabashvili did not specify what exactly the new charges were related to, but said he would provide more information in the future.
He said that an investigator had visited Okruashvili in jail to inform him of the new criminal allegations.
Okruashvili is currently awaiting the verdict in his trial for refusing to appear before a parliamentary commission.
The commission to investigate the United National Movement (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.
Okruashvili was summoned to appear at the commission in March, but declined to show up.
Following his refusal to appear at the commission, Okruashvili became the subject of an investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office, after which he was released on bail of ₾20,000 ($7,300), as well as a travel ban until the case was resolved.
Okruashvili was given 30 days to pay the bail.
After he refused to pay, the Prosecutor General’s Office filed a motion to have the bail be replaced with pretrial detention, which the court granted, and Okruashvili was brought into custody.
A number of other opposition politicians have also refused to appear at the commission, resulting in their subsequent arrest. As of 25 June, four opposition politicians who declined to show up at the commission have been handed months-long prison terms, as well as a ban on holding office for two years.
OC Media
Okruashvili has a long and eventful history in Georgian politics, though he has struggled to remain politically relevant in recent years.
He served in a variety of roles during the tenure of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and his UNM party, including Interior Minister and Minister of Defence until 2006. In 2007 he went into opposition and subsequently faced criminal charges, before going into exile in France.
Okruashvili was again arrested in 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison for ‘organising group violence’ during the Gavrilov’s Night protests. He was pardoned by former President Salome Zourabichvili in 2020.
Tata Shoshiashvili
