Sergi Kapanadze, one of the leaders of European Georgia Party said that the decision not to pardon Giorgi Rurua, Founder and shareholder of Main Channel, was, in fact, made by Bidzina Ivanishvili, Chairman of Georgian Dream Party rather than President Salome Zurabishvili.

“We all understand that the president’s decision is, in fact, Ivanishvili’s decision which was naturally expected. The fight will still continue and as soon as this government is defeated in the elections, Rurua and other political prisoners will be definitely released.

What’s unfortunate is that after this decision the polarization will remain, there won’t be a normal situation at the time of elections and naturally, it will undermine the perception of the results of the election and it will also affect our international partners’ and observers’ positions towards Georgia.

We’ve already seen this in the statements by Senator Risch and other friends of ours. Overall, this decision shows that Georgian Dream doesn’t intend to fulfill the agreement and plans to have a campaign which they had in 2018, or even worse,” Kapanadze said.

President Salome Zurabishvili said on July 31 that she did not intend to repeat the same as she had done into case of oppositional politicians Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili.

Giorgi Rurua, Founder and shareholder of Main Channel was sentenced to 4 years in prison on charge of illegal buying and keeping of weapons based on the decision made by Tbilisi City Court on July 30.

Giorgi Rurua was detained on November 18 of 2019. Rurua’s release was one of the main demands as per March 8 Agreement reached between the parliamentary majority and opposition in Georgia. The opposition and some international organizations believe that Rurua is a political prisoner.