GD’s UNM Investigative Commission to Request Prosecution of Mamuka Khazaradze
The Georgian Dream parliamentary commission investigating alleged systemic crimes under the previous United National Government plans to address the Prosecutor’s Office to charge Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the opposition Lelo party, for his refusal to appear at the commission’s meeting today.
“He [Mamuka Khazaradze] called this commission a circus and said that he is not going to participate in this circus… Refusing to appear before the commission is a criminal offense, and we will probably have to send the case [against him] to the Georgian prosecutor’s office,” said Tea Tsulukiani, the commission’s chairwoman.
The GD Parliamentary Commission today heard from Jemal Leonidze and his lawyer Roin Migriauli. The case concerns alleged business racketeering against Leonidze, who owned LTD Magnati, under the previous UNM government. Leonidze claimed that Mamuka Khazaradze and his associate Badri Japaridze – who held no political positions at the time – were involved in the case as representatives of TBC Bank.
Khazaradze wrote on social media this morning that he would not appear before the commission’s meeting. As for Badri Japaridze, another Lelo leader who had not yet officially announced his refusal, Tsulukiani said he was aware he had been invited. “He is still invited to the commission meeting. I hope that, unlike Mamuka Khazaradze, he will appear today and answer the questions,” Tsulukiani said.
Under Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, non-compliance with a request of the parliamentary investigative commission shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for up to one year.
The GD parliament’s temporary investigative commission is tasked with examining the “regime’s and its political representatives’ activities in 2003-2012.”
In the run-up to the 2024 general election, the promise to ban the “collective UNM” was one of GD’s campaign pillars.
On March 26, before beginning its deliberations on the situation in the occupied Georgian territories from 2004 to 2012, the commission unanimously decided also to address the prosecutor’s office about Badri Japaridze, after he refused to appear before the commission on March 25.
Earlier Case Against Mamuka Khazaradze
This is not the first legal dispute for Khazaradze. In January 2022 the Tbilisi City Court sentenced founders of TBC Bank and opposition Lelo party Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and businessman Avtandil Tserteli guilty of fraud and sentenced them to seven years of prison, but let the three walk free noting statute of limitations had passed by the time of the ruling. The defendants denied having committed fraud and appealed the verdict in the second instance court.
TI-Georgia, a key local watchdog stated that the case was “unambiguously politically motivated.” The watchdog argued the investigation could have served to punish opponents of the Georgian Dream government and halt the of Anaklia Deep Sea Port project, a joint venture of TBC Holding and a U.S. investor under a consortium. The Tbilisi Court of Appeals upheld a guilty verdict in January, 2023. The Supreme Court of Georgia has refused to consider the case in September 2023.
NOTE: This news article was updated on March 26 at 10:38 a.m. to include the commission’s decision to address the prosecutor’s office on Badri Japaridze.
Also Read:
- 11/03/2025 – GD Amends Rules to Let Commission Investigating UNM Request Probe at Any Stage
- 14/02/2025 – Tea Tsulukiani to Chair Parliamentary Commission Investigating UNM Government
- 07/02/2025 – GD Parliament Staffs Commission to Investigate UNM, Threatens Criminal Liability for Refusal to Cooperate
- 09/01/2025 – GD Announces Creation of Parliamentary Commission to Investigate UNM’s Alleged “Systemic Crimes”
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