Ruling party MP dismisses allegations of political persecution over Gvaramia’s imprisonment

The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP Mikheil Sargveladze says that the recent arrest of the head of the opposition-minded Mtavari channel, former United National Movement official, Nika Gvaramia “has nothing to do with political revenge.”

 

Sarjveladze said on Monday that there were “no grounds” to say that Gvaramia was politically persecuted as the convict and the opposition said this.

 

He stated that people under the United National Movement authorities had faced “far tougher punishment for the same crime.”

 

Sarjveladze suggested that an individual’s political activities must not be an obstacle for a court’s activities.

 

He stated that Gvaramia’s decisions while in Rustavi 2TV  led to low incomes for the media outlet and that was why the court found Gvaramia guilty of abuse of power.

 

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia filed charges against Gvaramia, as well as Kakha Damenia, former financial director of Rustavi 2, and Zurab Iashvili, director of Inter Media Plus back on September 6, 2020.

 

 Gvaramia, former education and justice minister of Georgia who ran Rustavi 2 between 2012 and 2019, was accused of embezzling large amounts of property belonging to Rustavi 2, commercial bribery and forging official documents, and legalizing illegal income by a group with a preliminary agreement. He was also accused of abuse of power.

 

 The judge of Tbilisi City Court Kakhaber Damenia found Gvaramia guilty of only abuse of authority on Monday, while Damenia was fined 50,000 GEL.

 

 The judge acquitted the third defendant in the case, Iashvili.

 

 Gvaramia said that he is politically persecuted by the Georgian Dream authorities.