Co-founder of Mtavari Arkhi channel Giorgi Rurua sentenced to 4 years in prison
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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.
Rurua, who was detained last year, says he is a political prisoner.
His lawyer has told the media that ‘we were expecting an unfair verdict,’ adding that they will appeal the court’s decision.
The opposition, which has been demanding Rurua’s release since his detention, also calls him a political prisoner.
It was because of Rurua the opposition parties refused to vote for constitutional changes earlier this year, per the March 8 election agreement between the ruling party and the opposition.
The opposition claimed that the ruling party accepted Rurua’s release in the election talks which were mediated by the diplomatic corps which the ruling party strongly denied.
The German ambassador to Georgia also said that Rurua ‘was not mentioned’ in the March 8 election agreement that is why he was sharply criticized by the opposition.
Giorgi Rurua is the brother of a deceased official under the previous United National Movement government Nikoloz Rurua.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has denied to participate in parliament's work despite the recent election deal with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party last week, stating that not all conditions of the agreement have been fulfilled.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Twenty Georgian opposition parties released a joint statement earlier today in which they said that the recent conviction of a co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua has political grounds.
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.
Co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua was attacked by other convicts in prison yesterday.
Two employees of Tbilisi penitentiary facility No. 8 have been detained for negligence resulting in an attack on the co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua on November 2.
Two employees of penitentiary No. 8 in Tbilisi Levan Gelashvili and Shalva Margvelashvili, who were earlier charged with negligence which resulted in an attack on the co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua, have been denied bail earlier today by Tbilisi City Court.
Three MPs of the Girchi party have signed, while Lelo has stated they will also sign the new proposal by the EU to solve the political tension in Georgia which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The agreement released by the European Council President Charles Michel on the weekend offers a pardon for all violations and convictions stemming from the 19-21 June 2019 protests in Tbilisi and says that if the ruling party fails to receive at least 43 per cent of votes in this year’s municipal elections, they should accept the conduct of repeat parliamentary elections.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has stated that she will pardon the co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua if Georgian political parties sign the new proposal by the European Council President Charles Michel to solve the political tension and if opposition MPs take up their mandates.
Opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi cameraman Levan Ablotia, who received injuries in the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party office in Kareli yesterday, has dismissed the allegations of the channel head Nika Gvaramia that he was thrown out of the second floor by GD activists.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has released a video depicting opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi cameraman Levan Ablotia, ‘walking freely at the time the channel claimed he was unconscious.’