“These charges are, of course, completely absurd and nothing but political retribution and revenge — something that Bidzina Ivanishvili had already announced before the 2024 parliamentary elections. Therefore, nothing was unexpected; we were ready,” said Giorgi Sharashidze, an MP from the For Georgia party, while speaking to journalists about the charges brought against the party’s leader, Giorgi Gakharia.

According to Sharashidze, the “false witnesses,” “informers,” and everyone involved in this case should understand that their testimony was not against Giorgi Gakharia personally, but against Georgia’s national interests and territorial integrity.

“The Chorchana episode is the only instance in Georgia’s recent history when the Georgian state defended its own land, acted with dignity, and did so without provoking military confrontation. Therefore, the false witnesses, the informers, and everyone participating in this case should understand very well that their testimony was not against Giorgi Gakharia but against Georgia’s national interests and territorial integrity. The so-called commission led by Tsulukiani and the Georgian Dream prosecution service should know this too. The time will come when everything will be called by its real name, and those who fabricated this dirty case and denounced Giorgi Gakharia will find their place in history,” Sharashidze stated.

Regarding the June 20 case, Sharashidze also said that this part of the charge is “absurd” and represents political persecution.

“Both the Chorchana case and the June 20 case are purely political retribution. They have nothing to do with law or justice and never will,” Sharashidze said.

When asked about Giorgi Gakharia’s own position, Sharashidze said that Gakharia would decide that himself, and nothing changes for their political team.

He noted that the party will now be even more principled in its fight against Georgian Dream and will “expose all the lies and crimes committed against the Georgian people and the country’s future development.”

“No one can intimidate us or make us step back. It’s clear that these charges are meant to stop us, but they will not succeed. Their main goal is to eliminate Giorgi Gakharia from the political arena — but that will not happen. Everyone should accept this. As for Giorgi Gakharia himself, he will decide how to proceed — nothing changes for our team. We decided to return to Parliament, which Georgian Dream clearly dislikes. We understand this is an undesirable scenario for them, and that’s likely why they rushed to file these charges. There’s nothing unexpected about it — we were ready. Despite the difficult situation, we are prepared to continue our principled fight against Georgian Dream,” Sharashidze said.

Additionally, the MP commented on the transfer of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from the “Vivamedi” clinic to the penitentiary facility, saying that Georgian Dream used this move to overshadow the “absurd” charges filed against Giorgi Gakharia.

“I have one question for Georgian Dream: if they decided to transfer Saakashvili from the clinic to prison on the grounds that his health had ‘improved,’ did that improvement happen yesterday — four hours after the charges were filed against Giorgi Gakharia? Was Saakashvili feeling unwell before that? For example, was he worse a year ago? Based on both our and publicly available information, Saakashvili’s condition has been stably satisfactory for the past two to two and a half years. So Georgian Dream should explain — why exactly yesterday?”

When asked how the charges against Gakharia and Saakashvili’s transfer might be connected, Sharashidze replied that the connection lies in Georgian Dream’s attempt to divert attention.

“Georgian Dream knows very well that the charges against Gakharia, especially the Chorchana episode, are so absurd that, despite all their aggressive propaganda, they can’t even convince their own voters. They likely needed to cover it up — and they did so with this topic, to make Gakharia’s absurd charges less visible. Otherwise, I can’t explain how Saakashvili’s health ‘improved’ exactly yesterday. It’s just a version, not a claim, but it’s a fact that such coincidences are never accidental,” Sharashidze said.