PM Gakharia on case of opposition TV channel co-founder: all criminals must go to prison, the courts decide

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has reiterated that the case of the co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua ‘has nothing to do with politics’ and it is the judiciary which makes decisions on criminal cases. 

The opposition parties refused to vote for an election bill recently passed in parliament and following amendments to the election code because Rurua remains in prison.

The opposition claims that the ruling party ‘accepted the release’ of Rurua in the March 8 election agreement along with opposition leaders Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili. 

The ruling party says this is a lie. 

All offenders must go to prison and this must not be connected with the political process. The Georgian court delivers verdicts on such issues," Gakharia said.

Rurua was detained last year for alleged illegal possession of firearms and has been refused bail several times. 

PM Gakharia stated that the parties who refused to vote for the bill did so because of their ‘egoism and narrow political interests and they justify [their refusal to vote for the bill because of a factual, criminal case]...the move will not work in the eyes of the Georgian people.’ 

Earlier this year, a Georgian woman with US citizenship accused Rurua of murdering seven of her family members back in the 1990s. 

The opposition recently criticised the German ambassador to Georgia, one of facilitators of the election talks, who said prior to the vote on the constitutional changes that Rurua had not been mentioned in the March 8 election agreement.

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The ruling party says that the opposition is ‘destructive’ and through the refusal to vote for the constitutional changes they (the opposition) violated the March 8 election agreement.