A confrontation erupted at the Tbilisi City Court between former Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Bailiffs and lawyers were called upon to restore order.
“I have nothing to say to this traitor. This is a sham trial orchestrated by Russia and Putin to silence me. A Russian is standing here giving testimony against me; Ivanishvili is having me tried by Russian judges,” declared Saakashvili following a heated exchange with Nogaideli, before walking out of the proceedings.
The confrontation was sparked by Saakashvili’s claim that Nogaideli had met Putin after the war, bowed his head before him, and offered an apology. Nogaideli reacted sharply to this allegation, and the argument between the two men continued for several minutes. Prosecutors attempted to calm Nogaideli down.
In his testimony, Nogaideli stated that military units had been mobilised on November 7 and that this could not have happened without Saakashvili’s decision.
“It is as clear as day that this charge was fabricated from start to finish by Partskhaladze. I do not confirm that the army was deployed on the streets to restore order; the army did not lift a finger. It was a show of force for the enemy, to demonstrate that Georgia has an army and is capable of defending itself,” Saakashvili declared in response to Nogaideli.
Additionally, the prosecutor inquired of Noghaideli whether he was aware of the meeting held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs on November 4. Noghaideli responded that he could not have been present at that meeting, as he had not been in Georgia until November 7. He also stated that he had learned about the meeting through Vasil Maghlaperidze’s statement.
Saakashvili also challenged Nogaideli on why he was giving testimony about the November 4 meeting in assertive terms, based solely on Vasil Maghlaperidze’s account.
“You say you know nothing about the November 4 matter, yet you recount what Vasil Maghlaperidze told you as a fact. It would have been no trouble for Vasil to have recorded it; where is the audio recording? Does Vasil Maghlaperidze have one?” Saakashvili demanded of Nogaideli, to which Nogaideli replied that the court would determine whether any such recording exists.
Saakashvili pressed Nogaideli with a further question: “Did Vasil Maghlaperidze express dissatisfaction with the prevailing situation? Was he in an oppositional frame of mind? Are you aware of that?”
Nogaideli responded that Maghlaperidze “held both critical and positive views about the situation that had developed.”
At the hearing, Saakashvili spoke of Badri Patarkatsishvili’s connections with Russia, stating: “In November 2007, the Federal Bureau informed us that they were planning unrest in Tbilisi. That was FBI intelligence. Were you aware that Patarkatsishvili was connected to Russia?” Nogaideli replied: “He made his money there, but he was no longer closely connected after that.”
To Saakashvili’s further question of whether he was aware that Patarkatsishvili had links to the Russian FSB, Nogaideli retorted: “Why was he in Tbilisi, if he was an FSB agent, if he was an FSB colonel — why didn’t you arrest him?”
Saakashvili then turned to Nogaideli: “You do know that you met with Putin?” to which Nogaideli replied: “In order to normalise relations.” Saakashvili rounded on him: “Did you push on him? Did you show your strength? This traitor went to Putin. He betrayed Georgia, listened to him, and apologised. These are the people now in power; people like this sold Georgia out. This man bowed his head before Putin.”
From the gallery, shouts could be heard directed at Zurab Nogaideli: “Putin’s slave.”
As a reminder, this pertains to a meeting held on November 4, 2007, with the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Vano Merabishvili, which was also attended by the then Governor of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, Vasil Maghlaperidze. The discussion centred on the suppression of the rally scheduled for November 7, 2007.
Vasil Maghlaperidze provided testimony to the Parliamentary Investigative Committee and the court regarding this meeting.
“The meeting focused on how to disperse the protest participants in a way that they would no longer be inclined to hold rallies. Many things became entirely clear to me that day. In fact, I witnessed an attempt to overthrow the state, or at least, an effort to seize power. All the security agencies and regional governors were acting in violation of the constitution. This was deeply disturbing to me,” Maghlaperidze stated during the court hearing on December 25, 2024.
