Opposition leader Ugulava sentenced to 3 years in prison
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Leader of European Georgia opposition party and ex-Mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison by Georgian Supreme Court for the embezzlement of 48 million GEL from Tbilisi Municipal Development fund while in office.
In February 2018 the Tbilisi Court of Appeals also sentenced Ugulava to one year and three months to prison in the case. However, the sentence was absorbed by another sentence Ugulava faced.
Ugulava and the opposition say it is ‘political persecution,’ adding that the ruling party has ‘crossed the red line.’
The ruling party officials say that 'everyone is equal before law,' excluding any political ground.
- Several charges, mostly related to abuse of authority and embezzlement of state funds, were brought against Ugulava in 2013 and he was sentenced to several - month pretrial detention in 2014 by Tbilisi City Court.
- In 2015, he was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. This prison term was commuted to four years and six months.
- Ugulava left prison in 2017.
- Shortly after the release, the party Ugulava belonged to, the United National Movement announced its split, with Ugulava and several former leaders of the UNM creating the European Georgia party.
- Ugulava served as Tbilisi mayor between 2005 and 2013.
Former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava was charged with physical assault after an incident involving athletes at Tbilisi International Airport yesterday.
The Tbilisi City Court has found former mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava guilty of exceeding official powers and sentenced him to one year and two months in prison.
Several leaders of the party that governed Georgia from 2004-2012 announced their departure from the United National Movement today and their intentions to create a new political party.
Gigi Ugulava, the former Mayor of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi has been found guilty of misspending millions of public funds and been sentenced to four years and six months in jail.
The European Georgia opposition party leader David Bakradze has stated that opposition parties are suspending the dialogue with the ruling Georgia Dream party on 2020 election issue after the sentencing of European Georgia opposition party leader Gigi Ugulava to three years and two months in prison by the Georgian Supreme Court yesterday.
Ruling party MP Mamuka Mdinaradze has responded to US Congressman Adam Kinzinger’s concern on the arrest of the opposition leader Gigi Ugulava by saying that the court was used as a weapon under the United National Movement government (UNM) that Ugulava belonged to.
The US embassy to Georgia has reported that they are disappointed that the timing and context of the conviction and sentencing of an opposition leader Gigi Ugulava yesterday has put the election dialogue between opposition parties and the ruling Georgian Dream party at risk. Ugulava, who was the ex-Tbilisi mayor under the United National Movement leadership and now a current leader of the European Georgia opposition party, has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison.
British Embassy to Georgia has stated that the recent sentencing of opposition European Georgia leader Gigi Ugulava “leaves unanswered questions” concerning the timing and process. "As a friend and a strategic partner”, it encourages steps “to narrow divisions and reinforce democracy” in Georgia.
Ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Secretary General, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze and the party’s Executive Secretary Irakli Kobakhidze have offered MEPs in the European parliament to create a special mission, composed of members of different political groups, to look into the embezzlement case involving opposition leader Gigi Ugulava.
Members of the European Parliament have welcomed the offer of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party on the creation of a fact-finding commission into the arrested opposition leader Gigi Ugulava’s case, while the opposition is skeptical of the idea.Ruling party officials proposed MEPs in Strasbourg yesterday to create a commission and come to Georgia to look into Ugulava’s case, ‘to make sure there is no political persecution’ in Georgia.
Leader of the European Georgia opposition party, former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava who has been imprisoned for the embezzlement of 48 million GEL in state funds, says that he does not want the opposition’s demand for his release to create an obstacle in reaching an agreement [with the ruling party] on the 2020 election issue.
A Tbilisi City Court judge has annulled the pretrial measure for former Tbilisi Mayor, now leader of the European Georgia opposition party Gigi Ugulava, for an incident at Tbilisi International Airport in December 2019 as he was arrested earlier this year for another case for the embezzlement of 48 million GEL of state funds while in office.
Twenty-six opposition parties and one independent MP have released a joint statement earlier today in which they urged the country’s foreign partners ‘to remind’ the ruling Georgian Dream party ‘how important it is to fully fulfil the March 8 election agreements’ with the opposition.
Former leader of European Georgia opposition party and former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava has stated that the government is ‘continuing political persecution’ against him, noting that a trial has been scheduled for May 13 for a case he was charged in back in 2019.
The united opposition, which currently includes the United National Movement (UNM), European Georgia, Droa and Girchi-More Freedom opposition parties, ‘are very likely’ to nominate former Tbilisi mayor under the UNM Gigi Ugulava for mayor of Poti in western Georgia in the October 2 municipal race, UNM head Nika Melia stated earlier today.
The candidate for Poti mayor, former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava, says that the country’s Interior Ministry has not given him a document necessary to register for the race, which confirms that he is not a convicted felon for sexual or narcotics crimes.