Nika Gvaramia Sentenced to Eight Months in Prison for Defying Tsulukiani Commission
Nika Gvaramia has thus become the seventh person – and sixth opposition figure – sentenced to prison for defying the GD commission's summonses, following
Nika Melia
,
Givi Targamadze
,
Giorgi Vashadze
,
Mamuka Khazaradze
,
Badri Japaradze
, and
Zurab Japaridze
. Former Defense Minister
Irakli Okruashvili
remains in pretrial detention, anticipating a similar verdict.
All who have received prison sentences have also had their right to hold office stripped for two years.
Gvaramia, who has been in
pretrial detention
since June 16 after refusing to pay court-imposed bail, did not attend today's ruling, following others' examples from recent weeks.
The ruling was delivered without media coverage, as new
legislative changes
passed
last week by the GD parliament – banning journalists from filming, photographing, or live broadcasting from court premises without prior consent – have come into force.
Nika Gvaramia served as Deputy Prosecutor General, Justice Minister, and Education Minister between 2007 and 2009 under the UNM government. From 2012 to 2019, he was director of the opposition-leaning Rustavi 2 channel. In 2022, Gvaramia was
imprisoned
after being found guilty of abuse of power related to Rustavi 2 management, but in June 2023, President Salome Zurabishvili
pardoned
him.
After his release, Gvaramia entered politics in early 2024, co-founding the
Ahali party
with Nika Melia. The Ahali-led Coalition for Change won the majority of opposition votes in the 2024 parliamentary elections, which the opposition claims were rigged. The coalition then
revoked
their mandates, has boycotted the GD parliament since, and now strongly opposes participating in the
local elections
scheduled for October 2025.
The Georgian Dream parliament's temporary investigative
commission
, chaired by GD veteran and former Justice and Culture Minister Tea Tsulukiani, was initially formed to probe alleged misconduct under the UNM government. Over time, however, it extended its scope to the present day, summoning GD critics, including some who had never been with the UNM.
The opposition has refused to appear before the commission, refusing to cooperate with the one-party parliament they consider illegitimate.
Former GD Interior Minister and Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, now the leader of the opposition For Georgia party, was the only exception who agreed to
testify
, while maintaining that his appearance did not amount to legitimizing the rump parliament, which his party has also been boycotting.
Giorgi Gakharia has been
resummoned
by the commission over the Chorchana episode, which the Prosecutor's Office is investigating as 'sabotage.' Currently in Germany, Gakharia offered to testify remotely, to which the Tsulukiani Commission ultimately agreed. The session is scheduled for July 2. Gakharia's party member said his return to Georgia remains undecided due to 'many factors.'
Alongside Gakharia, other opposition figures – Nika Gvaramia, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Giorgi Vashadze – were also summoned again, with their testimonies meant to be heard online from prison on June 30. However, they again defied the summonses and did not appear. The commission asked the Prosecutor's Office to open investigations into their renewed defiance.
Non-compliance with the Georgian Parliament's temporary investigative commission is a criminal offense, punishable by a fine or up to one year in prison, alongside a ban on holding public office for up to three years. However, the court has not fined anyone and opted for prison sentences.
The commission has addressed topics such as alleged human rights abuses, including in prisons and the alleged business racketeering under the UNM rule, as well as the August 2008 war, which it blames on the former administration and imprisoned ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. It is also looking into activities from 2012 to 2025 that it claims undermined Georgia's foreign policy interests.
On June 25, the GD parliament once again extended the commission's mandate until August 5. Tsulukiani, addressing the GD MPs at the plenary session, said the final report of the commission will be 'the gravest' in its assessments.
Georgian Dream says that the commission's final report will be submitted to the country's Constitutional Court to ban the UNM and its 'successor parties.'
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