For Georgia’s Sharashidze: Nothing changes for us, we continue our political activities

“Chorchani episode is the only instance in Georgia’s recent history when the Georgian state defended its land with dignity and succeeded without any military confrontation,” Giorgi Sharashidze, a member of the Gakharia for Georgia party, stated.

Sharashidze emphasized that the charges filed against former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia are “absurd” and politically motivated.

“The charges brought by the Prosecutor’s Office are completely absurd and represent nothing more than political retribution and revenge, which Bidzina Ivanishvili had announced even before the 2024 parliamentary elections. The Chorchani episode is the only example in recent Georgian history where the state defended its land, acted with dignity, and achieved results without any military conflict,” Sharashidze said.

He added that those who testified against Gakharia acted “against Georgia’s national interests and territorial integrity.”

“The false witness, the informant, and everyone involved in this case should clearly realise that they testified not against Giorgi Gakharia, but against Georgia’s national interests and territorial integrity,” he noted.

Sharashidze also criticized the June 20 episode included in the charges, calling it “equally absurd,”.

“As for June 20, that part is also absurd. Even the victim’s lawyer admitted before the Strasbourg Court that the records prove Giorgi Gakharia did not order the use of rubber bullets. On the contrary, there are three separate recordings in which he directly instructs the special forces not to use them,” said Sharashidze.

“Nothing changes for us — we continue our political activities. We will be even more principled in opposing ‘Dream’ and will expose all the lies and crimes it commits against the Georgian people and the country’s future development. No one can intimidate us or turn us away from this path. It’s clear that this case was intended to hinder us, but they are not capable of that. Their main goal is to remove Giorgi Gakharia from the political arena — but that will not happen.

As for Giorgi Gakharia himself, he will decide how to respond. Nothing changes for our team in this regard. We have decided to return to Parliament, which ‘Dream’ clearly dislikes. We understand that this is an undesirable scenario for them, and that’s likely why they rushed to bring these charges. There was nothing unexpected in this — we were prepared. Despite the difficult situation, we are ready to continue our principled fight against GD,” said Sharashidze.

Commenting on the recent transfer of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, Sharashidze alleged that the move was intended to distract from the charges filed against Gakharia.

“It’s obvious this move was meant to distract public attention from the absurd charges against Gakharia — especially regarding the Chorchani episode. Even among their own supporters, despite heavy propaganda, GD has failed to justify these accusations,” he stated.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has initiated criminal prosecution against former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. As Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvarakidze announced at a briefing, the case concerns the June 20–21, 2019 and Chorchani episodes. Gakharia has been charged under Articles 25, 117 (Part 3, Subparagraph ‘m’), and 333 (Part 2) of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which carry a penalty of up to 13 years in prison. The Prosecutor’s Office plans to apply to the Tbilisi City Court to request pre-trial detention for the accused within the time frame established by law.