“If they have any complaints and do not like the decisions of the judiciary, they can turn to the Strasbourg court – and even if they lose there, they will still have to apologize afterward!” – this is how the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, responded to a question regarding the new criminal proceedings initiated against eight opposition leaders.

Papuashvili stated that since the prosecution has filed charges against them, there is a standard of reasonable suspicion sufficient to present the charges.

“I cannot make a legal assessment – that is the responsibility of the prosecution and the courts. From what we heard at the General Prosecutor’s briefing, and what we saw with our own eyes, we did not see how ‘blacklists’ of Georgian citizens were compiled to make Georgia a target of external attack. We did not see how folders and documents were taken to foreign countries to provide ‘blacklists’ to external parties and turn Georgia into a target.

We have assessed all of this politically multiple times. Regarding the legal assessment, in cases where the evidence meets the required standard, the prosecution has filed charges. Let’s see if it will be sufficient for a court verdict. The process is transparent, and if anyone has doubts, they can turn to the Strasbourg court.

How many times did they appeal via ‘Rustavi 2’? – They lost! Did they appeal regarding Mikheil Saakashvili? – They lost! Regarding Nika Gvaramia? They lost! Nika Melia? They lost! Overall, they have lost on everything, including their supporters and foreign handlers present here,” Papuashvili said.

The General Prosecutor’s Office has initiated new criminal proceedings against Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Zurab Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze. According to the prosecution, the cases concern crimes against the state, including sabotage, assisting foreign countries in hostile activities, financing actions against Georgia’s constitutional order and national security, and calling for the violent change of the constitutional order or the overthrow of the state authorities.