"Due to my 20-year relationship with Bidzina Ivanishvili and my attitude toward him, I walked into the political slaughterhouse and went to prison without a word of protest, as I did not want to enter into a confrontation. In doing so, I made a sacrifice and also protected the team and the country. In return, I was 'betrayed' for the third time," former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili writes in a letter.

“There are questions in the public sphere regarding my arrest, and many vague theories and speculations are circulating. While I have previously offered partial explanations and hinted at the primary motive, I have decided to elaborate further and explain to the public the real reason I was imprisoned. The main objective and motive behind my arrest was—and remains—to neutralize me politically, to damage and discredit my name and reputation among the public, and ultimately, to destroy my political future.

After committing an act of unimaginable baseness—setting a dirty trap, breaking their word, violating our agreement, and storming my home—they sent me a message that very same day: "You won't get out of this clean; you must forget about politics." This was accompanied by a promise: "No time in prison—just a multi-year suspended sentence and a fine." Yet again, they deceived me. On January 4th, I was suddenly informed that the terms had changed and I was to be imprisoned for five years. By then, I had already admitted guilt, was free on bail, and was awaiting the formalization of a plea agreement based on the terms I had been promised. As I have already explained to the public in my letters, due to my twenty-year relationship with Bidzina Ivanishvili and my attitude toward him, I willingly stepped onto the political slaughterhouse and went to prison without protest, as I did not wish to engage in confrontation. In doing so, I made a sacrifice and acted to protect both the team and the country. In return, I was deceived for the third time.

In February, when communication was established via an intermediary, the authorities conveyed a key message—beyond what appeared in the press: that my imprisonment had damaged the government more than it had damaged me. I realized that a new, dirty provocation was being prepared against me. The reason was clear: they had failed to sufficiently discredit me in the eyes of the public and had not achieved the intended effect through my arrest and the accompanying propaganda.

Following this, there was no further communication until July; then, as the public is already aware, I received a letter with new terms quite unexpectedly. Verbally, through the intermediary, I was told that my imprisonment had caused significant damage to the government, whereas my own reputation had not suffered any substantial harm. Public sympathy for me—and especially among Georgian Dream voters—had grown, particularly given that dozens of individuals convicted of attempting to overthrow the government had been released with suspended sentences. People found it baffling and inexplicable that I remained imprisoned for five years, considering I had admitted guilt, made restitution, caused no actual victims, and paid the imposed fine. Consequently, my imprisonment became a liability for the authorities.

0Compounding this were irrational suspicions and fears that I might return to politics upon my release. Because of this, they demanded I confess to a new, sordid corruption charge; the aim was to permanently destroy my reputation while simultaneously hedging against the risk of my political comeback.

Thus, my imprisonment was political from start to finish—from day one—and everything directed against me was politically motivated, bearing no relation to actual legal proceedings. Today, I remain in prison due to absurd suspicions, fears, and vindictiveness—an act of unimaginable injustice and malice toward me and my family. Over the past two weeks, the government’s deceitful and dirty propaganda has continued a smear campaign against me using laughable and feeble methods—tactics driven solely by fear. I have also heard the hypocritical and false statements made by government representatives, to which I wish to respond as follows: it seems you have really enjoyed yourselves and fully embraced your roles. Stop the hypocrisy! First, remove the beam from your own eye before you speak of corruption. The people know very well that this is a complete farce and an insult to our society.

With these ridiculous and malicious spectacles, you have disgraced state institutions and made them a laughingstock both at home and abroad; you have provided ammunition to enemies—internal and external alike—and, most importantly, you have inflicted immense, irreparable damage upon your own country, the government, and the ruling party itself. Through your reckless policies and actions, you have plunged the country into perpetual chaos and an unending crisis, confused your own voters, embittered individuals and families, and instilled in the public a sense of hopelessness, instability, and fear regarding an unpredictable future. You are already following Saakashvili’s path and bringing back the National Movement’s methods of governance...

You are committing evil—be careful!" writes Gharibashvili.