Latest news with #Targamadze
JAMnews
9 hours ago
- Politics
- JAMnews
Georgian opposition figure arrested after testifying at Hague tribunal on 2008 war
Opposition arrests continue in Georgia Opposition figure and former chair of the parliamentary committee on defence and security (2008–2012), Givi Targamadze, has been sentenced to seven months in prison and barred from holding public office for two years for failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission. The commission was set up to examine the actions of the Saakashvili administration between 2003 and 2012. On 5 February 2025, the Georgian Dream-led parliament established an investigative commission to examine the activities of the United National Movement government. The body is officially titled the 'Temporary Parliamentary Investigative Commission on the Activities of the Regime and Political Figures of the 2003–2012 Period.' Georgian Dream announced the commission's formation on 9 January 2025. According to the party's parliamentary leader, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the commission will operate for six months and present its findings for discussion and approval during the first week of the September session. Givi Targamadze was a witness at The Hague tribunal in the case concerning the 2008 war. Russian President Vladimir Putin had called for his arrest as early as 2012. At Russia's request, Interpol issued a 'red notice' for Targamadze in 2013 — a call for global law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally detain him pending extradition or similar legal action. However, Interpol later ruled that the notice violated its own statutes and removed Targamadze from the wanted list. Nevertheless, he remains wanted by Russia on charges of inciting unrest and organising terrorism. In addition, Targamadze was sentenced in absentia by Belarusian authorities to 25 years in prison for his support of the Belarusian democratic opposition. Targamadze was summoned to appear before the parliamentary investigative commission examining the actions of the Saakashvili government. According to the former MP, it is ironic that Georgian Dream and then-Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani — now head of the parliamentary commission investigating the Saakashvili government — claimed the Hague tribunal's ruling on the 2008 war as their victory, when it was Targamadze himself who provided key testimony at the tribunal. 'I was a witness in the Hague tribunal's case on the 2008 war. Based on my personal testimony, five arrest warrants were issued — for General Borisov, for then–prime minister and later interior minister of the so-called South Ossetia, Chochiev, who was Russian and personally oversaw a detention centre where many Georgian citizens were tortured, and also for the so-called ombudsman, who was part of the same system. I currently hold witness status at the Hague tribunal. I never spoke about this before — I tried to maintain a certain decorum and preserve some relationships. But now that the Georgian Dream government has strayed so far from the civilised world, there's no point in staying silent. The irony is that Tsulukiani, then Justice Minister, declared the Hague ruling a victory for herself and the Georgian Dream government — and then summoned me to her commission, where she shouted that I should be arrested,' Targamadze said. When asked whether the Georgian Dream parliamentary commission would seek to challenge the Hague tribunal's findings, Targamadze replied: 'We've seen the questioning of the former chief of general staff and the head of the peacekeeping forces — and we've seen the tone. It was a continuous attempt to blame the Georgian side. Yet both Strasbourg and The Hague conducted investigations and delivered rulings which found no fault with Georgia for any part of the war. Still, this parliamentary commission is trying to dispute that.' Asked whether he feared for his safety after publicly stating he had testified in The Hague, the former MP responded: 'I understand that this might put me in greater danger — but that doesn't matter. […] Putin once spent four minutes at a press conference talking about me. If he really wants me dead, he'll kill me eventually. I'm alive by chance — what else would be protecting me? So, it is what it is. I took this step consciously.' Реакция Запада на приговор Таргамадзе Chair of the Estonian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson, reacted to the sentencing of Givi Targamadze on social media platform X: 'Russia is carrying out a massive offensive inside Georgia, with the support of a Georgian puppet government.' Russia is carrying out a massive offensive inside Georgia, with the support of a Georgian puppet government. — Marko Mihkelson 🇪🇪🇺🇦 (@markomihkelson) June 27, 2025 On 24 June, the court found Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the Strategy Aghmashenebeli party, guilty of failing to appear before the parliamentary investigative commission examining the actions of the Saakashvili government from 2003 to 2012. He was sentenced to seven months in prison and banned from holding public office for two years. On 23 June 2025, a court controlled by Georgian Dream sentenced three opposition leaders to prison: Mamuka Khazaradze (Lelo), Badri Japaridze (Strong Georgia), and Zurab Japaridze (Coalition for Change). Nika Melia, Zurab Japaridze, and Nika Gvaramia (Coalition for Change), along with former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili, are already serving prison sentences for failing to appear before the same parliamentary commission.
OC Media
11 hours ago
- Politics
- OC Media
Two more Georgian politicians receive monthslong prison sentences
Join the voices Aliyev wants to silence. For over eight years, OC Media has worked with fearless journalists from Azerbaijan — some of whom now face decades behind bars — to bring you the stories the regime is afraid will get out. Help us fuel Aliyev's fears — become an OC Media member today Become a member Tbilisi City Court has jailed opposition leader Nika Melia and a retired opposition figure, GIvi Targamadze, for failing to appear before a parliamentary commission created to investigate the opposition. Nika Melia, the cofounder of the opposition Ahali party, was sentenced to eight months, while former United National Movement (UNM) MP Givi Targamadze received seven months. Both verdicts were announced a few hours apart on Friday. Melia was already in pretrial detention at the time of his sentencing for refusing to pay the bail set by the court in the same case. He did not attend Friday's court hearing. Targamadze, who paid his bail, had remained free until now. He also did not attend the hearing; instead, he went to the police station near his home, where he was handcuffed after the verdict was announced in the courtroom. 'We will inevitably win. In my view, it will happen sooner than I previously thought', added Targamadze as he arrived at the police station, describing the Georgian Dream government as an 'openly occupational regime'. Targamadze retired from politics in 2021, after having served as a UNM MP during its time in power and after Georgian Dream defeated them in 2012. He later joined European Georgia, a party that split off from the UNM, which he left in 2021. Targamadze has been wanted by Russia since 2013 on charges of attempting to organise mass unrest in Moscow. In October 2016, his car was blown up in central Tbilisi. Targamadze and his driver, who were there, survived. Later, the politician claimed that the explosives had been set jointly by Georgian and Russian security services. Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs only announced an arrest of a suspect linked to the bombing in 2024. On Friday, Targamadze suggested that his detention was 'an order of Russia'. A total of eight people have been detained for failing to appear before Georgian Dream's parliamentary commission, which targets the opposition. Of those, six have already been sentenced, while two — another leader of the Ahali party, Nika Gvaramia, and former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili — are in pretrial detention awaiting their verdicts. Before Targamadze and Melia, Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the Strategy Aghmashenebeli party, was sentenced to seven months on Tuesday. Previously, on Monday, the court sentenced Girchi — More Freedom leader Zurab Japaridze to seven months in prison on the same charges. Just a few hours later, Lelo leaders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze were given eight months each. The sentences also included a ban from holding public office for two years. Georgia's fifth president Salome Zourabichvili previously described the arrest of opposition politicians as a 'sign of weakness' from the government and the beginning of its end. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze once again attacked the opposition with conspiratorial rhetoric, referring to the detainees as 'agents' of the 'deep state'. The anti-UNM commission The commission was set up in February ostensibly to investigate the UNM's time in power, following repeated pledges by Georgian Dream to punish the formerly ruling party. Initially, its mandate was limited to the UNM's years in government (2003–2012), but it was later expanded to cover the period up to the present day — effectively giving Georgian Dream free reign to target virtually any opposition figure. Numerous opposition figures have boycotted the commission, refusing to recognise its legitimacy, as well as that of the current parliament, which has also been boycotted by major opposition parties following the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections. Criminal cases were launched against those who refused to attend the commission's hearings — if found guilty, those charged could be fined or sentenced to up to a year in prison. They could also be banned from holding public office or engaging in certain activities for up to three years. On Monday, during an interview with the pro-government TV channel Rustavi 2, the commission chair, Georgian Dream MP Tea Tsulukiani, did not rule out filing a second complaint against the detained opposition politicians. According to her, the commission has summoned Khazaradze and Gvaramia for questioning again, and if they do not participate from prison, 'it would probably come as no surprise to anyone if we are obliged to send this second failure-to-appear case back to the Prosecutor's Office'. Georgian Dream has openly declared that it intends to use the findings of the parliamentary commission to file a case with the Constitutional Court seeking to ban the country's main opposition parties — a promise the ruling party made to its voters ahead of the 2024 elections. The ruling party has maintained that all major opposition groups operating in the country are satellites of the UNM and should no longer be allowed to exist.
Civil.ge
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Civil.ge
Givi Targamadze Sentenced to Seven Months for Defying Tsulukiani Commission
Tbilisi City Court Judge Nino Galustashvili on June 27 sentenced former UNM lawmaker Givi Targamadze to seven months in prison for refusing to appear before the Tsulukiani Commission – the Georgian Dream parliament's temporary commission of inquiry, chaired by GD veteran Tea Tsulukiani and tasked with probing the former officials. Targamadze is the fifth to receive a prison sentence, following opposition leaders Giorgi Vashadze of Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaradze of Lelo, and Zurab Japaridze of Girchi–More Freedom. Three others, Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia of Ahali, and former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili , currently in pretrial detention after rejecting court-imposed bail, also face likely prison rulings. All those sentenced so far have also been barred from holding public office for two years. Givi Targamadze served as a UNM MP from 2004 to 2016, across three parliamentary convocations. From 2008 to 2012, he chaired the parliamentary Defense and Security Committee. In 2017, he joined European Georgia, a party that split from UNM, but left it in 2021. Targamadze did not attend the court hearing where his sentence was announced by Judge Nino Galustashvili, who had earlier sentenced Giorgi Vashadze to seven months in the same case, and 21-year-old Mate Devidze to four years and six months in prison for allegedly assaulting police. Under Georgian law, noncompliance with a parliamentary investigative commission is a criminal offense punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine, as well as a ban on holding public office for up to three years. However, courts have so far issued only prison sentences, with no fines imposed. Dozens of international partners have condemned the arrests of opposition politicians, describing them as acts of political persecution and saying the Georgian Dream is trying to consolidate power and suppress dissent. In 2013, Russian authorities charged Givi Targamadze in absentia for allegedly conspiring with a Russian opposition activist to incite riots in Moscow in 2012. The Moscow court sanctioned his arrest. Earlier, in 2006, Belarus also accused him of involvement in an alleged plot after the elections aimed at toppling the government. Targamadze was also the target of a car explosion in 2016 in downtown Tbilisi. Then-President Giorgi Margvelashvili condemned the blast as a 'terrorist act,' calling it 'an attack of crime against the normal political, democratic process.' The Georgian Dream parliament's temporary investigative commission , chaired by GD veteran and former justice and culture minister Tea Tsulukiani, is officially tasked with probing alleged crimes committed by the former United National Movement government and other officials. The commission has summoned both alleged victims and former officials, including current opposition leaders, most of whom have refused to appear, considering the one-party parliament illegitimate. On June 25, the GD parliament once again extended the commission's term by one month, until August 5. Former Georgian Dream Interior Minister and Prime Minister, now opposition For Georgia party leader Giorgi Gakharia, is the only opposition leader who agreed to testify before the Tsulukiani Commission. He maintained that his compliance did not amount to recognizing the Georgian Dream parliament, which his party continues to boycott. Gakharia was recently summoned again over the Chorchana episode, which the Prosecutor's Office is investigating under 'sabotage' charges. Gakharia offered to appear online, citing a visit abroad. The commission declined a remote hearing and scheduled an in-person session for July 2, but Gakharia's party says he will still be abroad on that date. Two others – Nika Gvaramia and Mamuka Khazaradze – who previously refused to appear, were also resummoned. Both vowed to continue boycotting the GD commission from behind bars. Chair Tea Tsulukiani suggested the commission will likely ask the Prosecutor's Office again to investigate their renewed non-compliance. 'If Gvaramia or Khazaradze does not join the commission remotely from their cells, it will not be surprising to anyone that we will probably have to send their second case of non-appearance to the Prosecutor's Office,' Tsulukiani said in a June 23 interview with the pro-government channel Rustavi 2. The commission is addressing topics including alleged torture, business racketeering, and the August 2008 war, which it blames on the former UNM government and ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. Georgian Dream says the commission's final report will be submitted to the country's Constitutional Court to ban the UNM and its 'successor parties.' GD says it plans to ban the opposition by the end of the year. Also Read: This post is also available in: ქართული
