Georgian opposition leader Japaridze sentenced to eight months in prison for defying parliamentary commission

Badri Japaridze, co-leader of the opposition party Lelo – Strong Georgia, has been sentenced to eight months in prison and banned from holding public office for two years after being found guilty of failing to comply with a summons from a parliamentary investigative commission probing alleged crimes under the previous United National Movement Government. 

The verdict was handed down by Judge Zviad Sharadze at the Tbilisi City Court on Monday. Japaridze was not present at the announcement.

He had been charged under Article 349 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which penalises failure to appear before a temporary investigative commission of Parliament. The offence is punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to one year, or a ban on holding office for up to three years. Japaridze had paid a 50,000-GEL bail in accordance with legal procedures prior to sentencing.

Japaridze is the third opposition figure sentenced on similar grounds in a single day. Earlier, the same court handed down a seven-month prison sentence to Zurab Japaridze, leader of the Girchi – More Freedom party, and an eight-month sentence to Mamuka Khazaradze, Japaridze’s co-leader in Lelo – Strong Georgia. Both were also barred from holding public office for two years.

All three politicians declined to appear before the commission and have denounced the process as politically motivated.