“There is a man accused of stealing millions — Irakli Gharibashvili — who remains free, while ordinary citizens are jailed for blocking a road. That’s their idea of justice. They probably left him outside so he can collect more money; it would’ve been harder to do from prison,” said Tato Kelbakiani, director of Prevention for Progress, on PalitraNews’ program “Days' Newsroom”, commenting on the government’s recent corruption-related arrests.

According to Kelbakiani, there is no genuine fight against corruption, and what is being presented to the public is a populist façade.

“What we are witnessing is an attempt at internal redistribution of property. One faction has gained dominance and is repressing the other. This regime has run out of resources — it allowed people to steal for years, and now it’s trying to retrieve that money. We’ve even heard that officials were told to return the money they made through corrupt schemes; some complied, others refused — and those who refused are now being targeted. It’s absurd when they say Gharibashvili invested money in a cable car project that no one had ever heard about. This only proves how deeply corrupt this regime has been all along. There’s no real anti-corruption fight going on — just an internal power struggle disguised as justice.”

He added that this process is a political reshuffling within the ruling elite, not a legal one: “Kakha Kaladze was reportedly asked to pay up and did so. Those who didn’t are now in trouble. This is not about justice; it’s about settling scores and reallocating wealth.”

Kelbakiani also commented on the ongoing protests, emphasizing that public discontent persists even if mass rallies are not daily: “The protest takes many forms and will continue. Just because 100,000 people aren’t on the streets every day doesn’t mean the movement is over. There are always groups expressing dissent in different ways, and there are moments when it all flares up again — like glowing embers that reignite with just a breath. The important thing is that the protest doesn’t stop; its forms should evolve, spreading to different neighborhoods and regions. We’re planning to cover various streets and districts of the city,” he said.