A court in Georgia on Thursday placed opposition leader Zarab Japareedz in a pre-trial detention.This step comes when the government tightens its critics after heavy protests last year.
Why is Japaridze jailed?
Japraidaz is one of the leaders of the coalition for change, who came second in the parliamentary election in 2024.Opposition parties, including the coalition for change, are boycotted amid allegations of the current legislature that the ruling Georgian Dream Party rigged votes in October.During the tenure of former President Mikhail Sakshwili, Japraidaze refused to appear in the investigation of alleged crimes committed between 2004 and 2012, who have been imprisoned since then.Japaridaze, who had prominently portrayed the Street Protests last year, also refused to grant bail and was held in contempt by Parliament. He has condemned the parliamentary investigation as illegitimate and being influenced by the ruling party.His lawyer Iraqali Chomakhshwili told AFP that the court’s decision “politically motivated decision is an attempt to silence a significant political voice.”Prior to the hearing, Japradez slammed the “Sham Trial”, “accusing the Georgian dream of leading the Black Sea Nation” dictatorship. ,According to Georgia’s Criminal Code, a sentence of up to one year can be given before the parliamentary investigation.
What is the situation in Georgia?
Other opposition data has also been accused of similar crimes. He has also refused to appear in the hearing and rejected the parliamentary investigation as illegitimate.Opposition and government critics accused Tabilisi of copying the powerful strategy employed by Moscow and copying aspirations to join Russia and far away from Europe and European Union.While the government denies the allegations, last year, the Georgian Dream Party Prime Minister Iraqali Kobkhidze postponed the conclusion dialogue with Brussels by 2028.The decision revived the road protests that shook the country in 2023 and 2024, when the government introduced the law on transparency of foreign influence – referred to as “Russian law” by critics – for which NGOs need to register as foreign agents or “a foreign force’s interests.”Georgia has no formal relations with Russia as Moscow supported separatists in two Break -West provinces in 2008.
