The fifth President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, released a statement on behalf of the “Resistance Platform” regarding the arrest of Zurab Japaridze, one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change.”

According to Zurabishvili, the parliamentary temporary investigative commission was created for the purpose of targeting political leaders.

In the video address issued under the name of the “Resistance Platform,” Zurabishvili refers to the ongoing developments as political and sees them as a sign that direct political attacks on leaders are beginning.

“Today marks another very shameful day for Georgian Dream. What they did—police attack on the court, barring people from entering, moving the session to a small courtroom—everything they tried today ended with what everyone already knew would happen: Zurab Japaridze being placed in pre-trial detention. This is disgraceful. It has nothing to do with justice; this is a political case and a sign that direct political attacks on leaders are beginning—this is one aspect. On the other hand, we have civil activists and public figures who are imprisoned today for absolutely nothing. The next step is for political leaders to be targeted. The investigative commission was created for all this—not to investigate crimes of the previous regime, but as a tool to detain political leaders they want to see behind bars. This is shameful for Georgian Dream. It is yet another sign of their helplessness—they don’t know how far or where to take their repressions. Every regime that reaches this stage is doomed to fall. We need resilience, but we must understand that a verdict has been delivered today—a verdict has been delivered against Georgian Dream,” said Salome Zurabishvili.

Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, a member of the “Coalition for Change,” had his previous bail of 20,000 GEL replaced with pre-trial detention. The decision was made by Judge Irakli Shvangiradze of the Tbilisi City Court, who granted the prosecution’s request. Japaridze was handcuffed in the courtroom.

The case concerns an investigation and charges related to failure to comply with a lawful demand of the temporary investigative commission of the Georgian Parliament. Japaridze did not appear before the commission, after which he was summoned to give testimony before a magistrate judge and was officially charged. The Tbilisi City Court initially imposed bail of 20,000 GEL as a preventive measure.

For reference, the investigation is being conducted under Article 349 of the Criminal Code, which deals with "failure to comply with the demand of the temporary investigative commission of the Parliament of Georgia." This offense is punishable by a fine or up to one year of imprisonment, and/or restriction from holding office or engaging in professional activity for up to three years.