Days After His Release, Court Sets GEL 30,000 Bail for Zurab Japaridze in ‘Sabotage’ Case
A court ordered Zurab Japaridze, leader of the opposition Girchi – More Freedom party, to pay GEL 30,000 (about USD 11,000) in bail in a pending “sabotage” case, at a hearing held days after his release from prison, where he had served a sentence on separate charges of defying Georgian Dream’s parliamentary commission.
Granting the prosecutor’s request, Tbilisi City Court judge Teona Epitashvili gave the politician 30 days to post the bail, ordered the confiscation of his passport and personal ID, and restricted his right to leave the country without the prosecutor’s consent. Japaridze told the journalists after the hearing that he has not yet decided whether to post the bail.
“It’s not only about me. My move may now determine, among others, what other politicians will have to do later, so I have to think things over,” he said.
Japaridze left jail early on December 19 after seven months behind bars. On December 22, he said a hearing was scheduled in another criminal case against him, where he faces charges of “sabotage” and aiding a foreign country in hostile activities, punishable by seven to 15 years in prison if convicted.
In the earlier case that led to his conviction for defying the ruling party’s parliamentary commission, the so-called Tsulukiani commission, the politician refused to post bail and was placed in pre-trial detention. Other jailed politicians, including Ahali’s Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia and Droa’s Elene Khoshtaria, Japaridze’s allies in the Coalition for Change, have also previously declined to post bail.
There have, however, been calls from supporters to change the principled position, citing the need for opposition leaders to use their freedom to be more actively involved in the current resistance.
Seven other opposition figures were indicted alongside Japaridze in November in the “sabotage” case, including Melia, Gvaramia, Khoshtaria, and Strategy Agmashenebeli’s Giorgi Vashadze, all of whom remain behind bars on separate charges.
Two others – Lelo/Strong Georgia’s Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze – were ordered to pay GEL 1 million (about USD 370,000) each in the same case. The two had also been convicted for defying the Tsulukiani commission but were released early after Georgian Dream-elected president Mikheil Kavelashvili pardoned them, citing their decision to run in the partially boycotted municipal elections in October.
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