"When a person commits a violation of the law, especially a criminal offense, naturally, there will be a response – [if they] don’t recognize [Parliament], they’ll go to prison!" Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in response to journalists’ questions regarding the 7-month imprisonment and 2-year ban on holding public office imposed on Zurab Japaridze, a leader of the "Coalition for Change," for failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission.
The Prime Minister noted that when an investigative commission or its chairperson has questions, everyone is obliged to respect the country’s Constitution.
"As for Japaridze, I wasn’t aware of this information until now. When a person commits a violation of the law, especially a criminal offense, naturally, there will be a response. When an investigative commission or its chairperson has questions, everyone is obliged to respect the country’s Constitution. [If they] don’t recognize [Parliament], they’ll go to prison. The ‘deep state’ has brought these people to this situation. They don’t care about the fate of their agents, whether they’re in prison, out of prison, or what political fate awaits them. When you’re a ‘deep state’ agent, you must accept that if they need you to, they’ll force you to violate the law and the Constitution. You might end up in prison for it," Kobakhidze stated.
For context, Zurab Japaridze was sentenced to 7 months in prison for failing to comply with the demands of an investigative commission and was also banned from holding public office for 2 years.