EU ambassador: circumstances around ex-defense minister Okruashvili’s case raises questions
Former Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili was found guilty in the June 20 rally case and was sentenced five years in prison by Tbilisi City Court on April 13, 2020. Photo: EU in Georgia press office.
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European Union Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell said that the circumstances around former Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili’s case ‘are not conducive to building trust around the historic political agreement reached between all major political parties on March 8 and raises questions about the even-handedness of the follow-up to the events of June 20 2019'.
Yesterday's developments risk again increasing political polarisation at a crucial moment for the agreement’s implementation”, says Hartzell.
Hartzell with other EU member Ambassadors urges all sides to remain committed to the March 8 agreement.
Former Minister of Defence Irakli Okruashvili was found guilty in the June 20 rally case and was sentenced five years in prison by Tbilisi City Court on April 13, 2020.
Okruashvili was acquitted of organizing group violence, however, he was found guilty of participating in group violence.
A total of 19 individuals were charged with group violence during the rally on June 20, 2019.
Former Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili has been found guilty in the June 20 rally case and been sentenced to five years in prison by Tbilisi City Court today.
Tbilisi City Court has left former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili in pretrial detention, declining the offer of his lawyer on the payment of 500,000 GEL ($168,000) for bail.
Irakli Okruashvili, the former Georgian Defence Minister under the United National Movement leadership has been detained for incitement to violence during the clashes of June 20 in front of the parliament of Georgia. Okruashvili has been charged with organising, heading and participating in group violence, the Georgian Interior Ministry reported.
Former Defence Minister of Georgia Irakli Okruashvili, who had to leave Georgia under the United National Movement leadership in 2007, has presented a new political party today, which is “composed of angry people.”Okruashvili said that the people in his new party, named For a Victorious Georgia, are angry with the leadership of the current Georgian Dream party.
A Lithuanian politician and member of the European Parliament Andrius Kubilius has urged the Georgian Dream government to abide by the March 8 election agreement with the opposition, and raised concerns regarding the recent conviction of several opposition leaders and members.