Irakli Zarkua: It's simple - You don't comply with the court's decision? – Prison!

"If you don’t pay the bail, it means you're deliberately choosing to go to prison – did you break the law? You're refusing to comply with a court ruling? Then prison it is!" – said the Chairman of the Diaspora Affairs Committee, Irakli Zarkua, commenting on the arrest of the "Coalition for Change" leader, Nika Gvaramia.

In response to the question of what message Gvaramia intended to send by not appearing in court but showing up at the prison of his own accord, Zarkua replied: "He staged a show."

"The matter is simple. I believe they’re doing this deliberately to create drama. Each of them knows there’s a law and a court decision. Don’t want to go to prison? Then pay the bail – like Vashadze, who’s out and about, continuing his empty and false political activities. If you don’t pay, then the rule is: you’ll be arrested. That’s it. It’s simple. Everyone makes their own choice. They’re not being restricted. Didn’t pay? The court ruled? Any citizen would be treated the same – whether it's me or anyone else. So they are free in their choice.

If you deliberately don’t pay the bail as determined by the judge, then you’re consciously choosing to go to prison. Now whether this earns them political points, or later they start saying 'maybe we’ll get pardoned' or something like that – we’ll see. Once again, everyone has their choice. Did you commit an offense? There’s the law and a court decision. You must comply. If you don’t comply – prison!"

For context: Nika Gvaramia, leader of the "Coalition for Change," has been arrested. Law enforcement placed handcuffs on him near Rustavi’s #12 penitentiary facility, where the opposition politician arrived voluntarily.

Before that, after arriving at the Rustavi prison, Gvaramia called 112 himself and requested the police. According to the officers who arrived on the scene, they forwarded the information about Gvaramia’s whereabouts to the relevant service.

At today’s court session, the prosecution requested that the current bail measure against Nika Gvaramia — set at 30,000 GEL — be replaced with pretrial detention. The judge granted the prosecution's request and changed the bail to detention. Gvaramia did not appear at the hearing held at Tbilisi City Court.

It should also be noted that Gvaramia was summoned to appear before Georgia’s Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission to provide an explanation. He failed to appear. As a result, he has been charged under Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to "failure to comply with the request of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Parliament of Georgia." This offense is punishable by a fine, up to one year of imprisonment, or a ban on holding office or engaging in certain activities for up to three years.

Gvaramia had been given a 50-day deadline to pay the 30,000 GEL bail, which expired on June 7.