It was very difficult for Bidzina Ivanishvili to imagine that someone who had always been a steadfast member of his team would take a step contradicting the principles that led Ivanishvili to return to politics, said Gia Volski, Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.

According to Volski, the imprisonment of Georgia’s former Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, was morally difficult to comprehend.

“This has been a very difficult process for me, and it has been ongoing for a long time. My attitude toward Irakli and his family has always been warm and friendly. I have had many professional conversations with him and recall numerous positive developments. For me, this is a personal tragedy, and it is also a tragedy for the team. It was extremely hard for Bidzina Ivanishvili himself to imagine that a person who had always stood firmly within the team would take such a step, one that contradicts the very principles with which Bidzina Ivanishvili returned to politics.

If the crime indeed exists, and especially since it has been admitted, this is important; however, the crime itself is very serious. I am not a prosecutor or a judge, so I cannot assess it legally, but from a moral standpoint, it is very difficult to hear and comprehend,” Volski said.

For reference, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has signed a plea agreement with former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, under which he was sentenced to five years in prison and fined one million GEL.

Additionally, it is known that on October 24, the Tbilisi City Court imposed a bail of one million lari on Georgia’s former Prime Minister as a preventive measure in the case concerning the laundering of particularly large sums of illegal proceeds. Garibashvili has been charged under Article 194, Part 3, Subparagraph “c” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which covers the legalisation of illegal proceeds accompanied by the receipt of income in an especially large amount.