I told the judge that after the coup, despite the risk of losing my life, I did not leave this country. Later, when the persecution began from Bidzina Ivanishvili's side and I was charged under a 9-year sentence, I still did not leave the country, and I have no intention of leaving! Therefore, the claim that there was a risk of me hiding is a lie, said Badri Japaridze, the leader of "Lelo - Strong Georgia," to journalists when discussing the court's decision regarding his absence from the parliamentary investigative commission session.

According to Japaridze, the Tbilisi City Court’s decision to impose a 50,000 GEL bail will be appealed in an appellate court.

Regarding the Temporary Investigative Commission, he described it as a "one-party group" used to discredit opponents.

"It has once again been confirmed that, unfortunately, the court has turned into an agency for notarizing the prosecutor's demands. First of all, this commission is created in an illegitimate parliament, and besides that, it was created in violation of the law, which requires that less than 50% of the members of the commission should be from the opposition. It is political fraud to say that this investigative commission consists of opposition members. The people who went with the ‘Georgian Dream’ list have never said a critical word about ‘Georgian Dream,’ so how can they be considered opposition. Secondly, Gakharia's party said it would not participate in this so-called commission’s work because it considers it illegitimate. Therefore, it is a gross violation of the law for this commission to call itself an investigative commission. This is a one-party group trying to use the platform of this so-called commission to blacken, defame, discredit, and take revenge on opponents. This is what this so-called investigative commission is," Japaridze stated.

Regarding the claim of hiding, he reiterated that he told the judge that between 1990-1992, when he was a member of the Supreme Council, after the coup, despite the risk of losing his life, he did not leave the country. Later, when persecution began from Bidzina Ivanishvili’s side and a 9-year sentence was imposed on him, he still did not leave the country, and he has no intention of leaving! Therefore, the claim that there was a risk of him hiding is a lie. "Hence, we clearly do not agree with the use of this bail, and this decision will be appealed," he added.

For the record, Badri Japaridze was summoned for clarification to the session of the Georgian Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission on March 25, but he did not attend. Afterward, Japaridze gave testimony before a magistrate judge. The Tbilisi City Court then set a 50,000 GEL bail as a preventive measure for the charge related to the request of the Parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission.