GD head: If Japaridze admitted to crime, he would retain his MP seat

Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze says that if a Lelo party founder Badri Japaridze admitted that he committed fraud back in 2008 along with another founder of the party Mamuka Khazaradze, ‘with a high possibility’ he would have retained his seat in the state legislature. 

 

Japaridze is among the three opposition MPs who were suspended from their MP status yesterday as Tbilisi City court has found him guilty in fraud and not laundering of 16.7million USD back in 2008, as it was the initial charge. 

 

Kobakhidze says that if TBC Bank founders Japaridze and Khazaradze had stated that they had problems in 2008, which is the year of the Russia-Georgia war, and had committed the crime, the ruling party’s attitude would be different. 

 

“However, they decided to dismiss allegations and oppose the system,” Kobakhidze said. 

 

Khazaradze and Japaridze say that neither laundering, nor fraud took place in 2008 and that the charges were politically grounded to hamper TBC carry out a large-scale Anaklia deep-sea port project. 

 

They say that Russia was against the construction of the strategic port and the founder of the ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili rejected the project.