GD MP Levan Machavariani: Did anyone find anything in those prison letters? We are dealing with pure absurdity

“It is entirely disconnected; in our country, something is always happening, and as a result, any event can be artificially linked to a politician’s departure from politics,” stated MP Levan Machavariani, First Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction.

Machavariani responded on GPB First Channel’s Topic of the Day to questions about the timing of Mamuka Mdinaradze’s late-August decisions, which coincided with prison letters published by former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. Garibashvili, breaking his silence after months of imprisonment following his departure from politics, singled out Mdinaradze, alleging that Mdinaradze had sent him a letter urging him to admit to non-existent corruption charges as part of a state-orchestrated trap.

“I have been forced to comment on Garibashvili on numerous occasions, and I do not want to leave anyone with the impression that I am motivated by something personal regarding Irakli Garibashvili. I don’t want anyone to believe that for a second. Frankly, I didn’t expect we would be unpacking this topic tonight.

Look at Irakli Garibashvili’s first letter, where he claimed Mamuka Mdinaradze sent it. Whoever drafted that document wrote it in the first person, using a style that could only come from someone in his inner circle. Honestly, we are dealing with pure absurdity here; there is no way Mdinaradze wrote it.

Regarding the second letter, where he asserts that he committed no crime and only confessed out of team interests to a non-existent offence- again, complete absurdity, is it not? We all saw the vast sums of cash seized from his apartment and everything else that came to light. Imagine a team telling a former prime minister: ‘We now need to invent a charge, you must take the fall, sign off, and go to a penitentiary facility for five years.’ Could what I am describing be plausible in any dimension?” Machavariani remarked.

Machavariani noted that subsequent letters were released, creating public expectation surrounding further revelations.

“If there are ‘further details’ as he claims, and given the public expectation, particularly among the foreign-agent opposition lined up to watch, there was a third letter, a fourth, a fifth letter… did you see anything of substance in those letters? We are dealing with pure absurdity, with the exploitation of a human tragedy, and then came the David Gareji issue. The entire country knows that Bidzina Ivanishvili personally coordinated the return of those maps to Georgia from start to finish. He spearheaded that entire process. What did you see in the third, fourth, or fifth letter? Naturally, this is ordinary absurdity, and should a sixth letter be released, let us see what, if anything, you manage to read into it,” Machavariani stated.

When program host Tamta Sanikidze asked if Irakli Garibashvili could be under state pressure, Machavariani completely dismissed the possibility.

“I rule it out absolutely. Do you know what looks remarkably suspicious in this case? What raises suspicion is that he publishes this letter precisely two days before fresh charges are brought against him, at a time when Burchuladze was cooperating with the investigation. We know their relationship, and we are talking about a former prime minister; could information not have leaked that Burchuladze was cooperating and that new charges were about to be served against Garibashvili?

I am simply connecting the logical chain. Let the public judge, but logic dictates he knew. Information would naturally leak to a former prime minister that his friend, also a former minister, was already preparing to cooperate and testify against him. From his perspective, he attempted to shift a legal matter into a political context, attempting to politicise the issue. Logic dictates this, and all five letters confirm it. I could read nothing else into those letters,” Machavariani concluded.