Court refuses bail for Rurua despite opposition’s accusations, ‘threats to election agreement’
Tweet 
Share
Tbilisi City Court has once again refused bail for the co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua, who has been charged with the illegal possession of firearms.
The opposition says that Rurua’s imprisonment is a threat to the ruling party and the opposition March 8 election agreement mediated by the diplomatic corps.
The opposition claims that the ruling party ‘accepted the release’ of Rurua, together with opposition leaders Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili in the March 8 agreement. However, the ruling party says it is a lie.
- Georgian President pardons opposition politicians Ugulava, Okruashvili to avoid 'endangering election agreement
- PM Gakharia: it’s unacceptable for me that so-called politicians who committed crimes were pardoned
Rurua’s lawyer stated that today the court completed the questioning of all 34 witnesses and there was no threat of Rurua influencing them.
However, a judge said that the threat still existed and refused bail.
The opposition says that if Rurua remains in prison, they will not vote for the constitutional changes for the 2020 parliamentary elections per the March 8 agreement.
Tamar Toradze is accusimg Rurua of killing seven of her family members.
They say that Rurua ‘is being deliberately discredited,’ referring to the accusations of Tamar Toradze a woman of Georgian origin with US citizenship, who says that Rurua killed seven of her family members back in the 1990s.
The ruling party says that the government never interferes in the court’s issues.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the united opposition have reached an agreement on holding the upcoming parliamentary elections this October with 120 seats in the legislative body to be distributed via a proportional vote and the remaining 30 via the majoritarian system.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has responded to the recent pardon of opposition leaders Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili and stated that it is unacceptable for him that ‘so-called politicians, who committed serious crimes, were pardoned only because they are in politics.’ “It is unacceptable for me that the person who was trying to break into the parliament building on June 20 (referring to Irakli Okruashvili) and the person who stole 50 million GEL from the state budget (referring to Gigi Ugulava) were pardoned only because they are politicians, so-called politicians,” Gakharia said.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has responded to a MEP from Poland Anna Fotyga that opposition leaders Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili were not ‘political prisoners.’ On May 15 President Salome Zurabishvili pardoned Ugulava and Okruashvili as she said to ‘discharge the situation.’
Opposition parties accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of endangering the March 8 election agreement ‘once again’ as Tbilisi City court denied bail to the co-founder of opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua earlier today.
The European People’s Party (EPP) is concerned that the co-founder of Georgian opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua remains in prison, the president of the party and former head of the European Council Donald Tusk said.
The Georgian parliament will discuss a bill regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections in the autumn on Sunday, June 21, in its first reading.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakaharia has responded to the President of the European People's Party (EPP) and former head of the European Council Donald Tusk, who urged the Georgian Dream government to ‘fully abide by the March 8 election agreement’ and release co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua.
The co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua is not mentioned in the 8 March agreement, says German Ambassador to Georgia Hubert Knirsch expressing surprise that this is a subject of discussion between the political parties.
The denial came several hours before the ‘historic vote’ of election bill in parliament today which proposes a more proportional electoral system for the autumn parliamentary elections, per the ruling party and the opposition March 8 election agreement.
The co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua was found guilty for the illegal possession and carrying of firearms and has been sentenced to four years in prison by Tbilisi City Court earlier today.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has responded to the recent conviction of the co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Giorgi Rurua, stating that if someone commits a crime, he must be held accountable, no matter whether he owns a television or is labelled as a political prisoner by the opposition.
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has refused to pardon Giorgi Rurua, co-founder of TV channel Mtavari Arkhi, who was convicted of illegal possession of firearms by Tbilisi City Court on Thursday.