An unprecedented political retaliation is taking place against Levan Khabeishvili, — said Lasha Parulava, one of the leaders of the United National Movement, referring to the case of the party’s Political Council chair Levan Khabeishvili, with the verdict expected today.

In an interview on PalitraNews’ program “Day’s Newsroom,” Parulava stated that neither a fair court nor the rule of law exists in the country.

“The Khabeishvili case is an unprecedented example of political revenge. The court is now evaluating how to interpret a politician’s public promise. This is a kind of test both for the political system and even for the judiciary that announces regime-made verdicts. We do not have a fair court or the rule of law. The regime makes the decisions, and the judge announces them. Judge [Irakli] Khuskivadze himself said that on May 20, when he heard Levan Khabeishvili’s final statement, he would announce the decision, but he postponed the hearing. This man looked visibly pale at yesterday’s hearing,” Parulava said.

According to him, several circumstances prove that the case against Levan Khabeishvili is politically motivated. Pharulava noted that Khabeishvili spent nine months in solitary confinement, during which the prosecution failed to present concrete evidence or classified information proving an alleged bribery attempt involving a public official.

“There is no money in the case, no person who says that someone approached them and offered something in exchange for secret information. Out of three witnesses, the prosecution brought only one to court. Even that witness said it was an interpretation, and there is no other evidence in the case. For nine months, only nine hours of hearings were held in Khabeishvili’s case. During that time, nearly one hour was devoted to questioning a witness. He was held in pre-trial detention under the pretext that he might influence witnesses, but even that detention turns out to have been unlawful. There is no money, no evidence, only public statements.

No one in this country is happy; the main source of misery is Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili’s daily repressive policy. How can a judge be satisfied when there is no evidence in the case? They extracted a three-minute clip where Khabeishvili speaks about a peaceful process and frames it as a message about peaceful overthrow. The prosecution failed to present any evidence showing that this involved an organized process leading to violence,” Parulava said.

He also addressed other issues, including the creation of a special unit within the Interior Ministry tasked with monitoring hate speech, insulting campaigns, and aggressive communication in public space, and taking legal action.

Parulava stated that the government has nothing to offer except repression and terror.

“The ‘paper general’ is promising to monitor public statements—this is madness. This decision was made by Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is troubled by criticism in public space. He has failed to fulfill a single promise he made to this country. Now, to silence criticism, Mamuka Mdinaradze has been turned into a ‘paper general’ who will check Facebook posts. It sounds insane, but the reality is that Ivanishvili lives in isolation and wants to isolate the entire country. He is trying to intimidate people with repression and terror. He is mistaken in one thing: he does not know the Georgian people. He spent too much time in Russia and confuses Russians with Georgians. He is deeply wrong if he thinks this repressive policy will have no effect. The only effect will be that the Georgian people will unite, and a decisive moment will come, including May 26,” Parulava said.

He added that the authorities themselves are fueling hatred.

“Irresponsibility, negligence, and mismanagement exist in all directions. When they came to power, external debt was 16 billion; today it is 72 billion. The National Bank removed this figure from its website. The government has nothing to offer the Georgian people except repression and terror. Today’s verdict in Khabeishvili’s case, like others, is part of the Georgian Dream regime, which will inevitably end in this country,” Parulava said.