Giga Bokeria, one of the leaders of European Georgia, believes that the detention of former Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili was one of the stains in Georgia's recent democracy. As he told reporters, Ivanishvili's political repression targeted people representing a political danger for him.

“This person had been in jail for seven years and I can't talk about for him. He has to say it all. I am just glad that after serving such a sentence, 7 years in solitary confinment, the political prisoner has now been released. He is my friend.

This story is one of the stains in our recent history of democracy. That is why Ivanishvili's regime must end peacefully through elections, so that such things never happen in Georgia. Nobody should ever be in prison due to such a political order.

This person was in solitary confinment for 7 years. I am not saying that we should go unpunished if we commit a crime, but we all know that Ivanishvili has not established the rule of law, he has just launched political repression against people who represent a political danger to him. Merabishvili was one of them. With this in mind, this release should be a symbol that if we defeat Ivanishvili peacefully, we should never do anything like this,” Bokeria said.