Former Interior Minister to Leave Prison on February 20

Former Interior Minister of Georgia Vano Merabishvili will leave the penitentiary facility on February 20.

On February 17, 2014, Merabishvili was sentenced to five years in jail after being found guilty of the brutal dispersal of the May 26 rally, hiding of evidence in the Sandro Girgvliani case, voter bribery and physical abuse of the opposition MP Valeri Gelashvili. Merabishvili was sentenced to 6 years and 9 months in prison.

The trial of the crackdown of November 7 rally is still ongoing against him. He is accused of abuse of power in the case.

Merabishvili denied all of the charges, saying they were politically motivated. The opposition claimed the ex-minister’s imprisonment could be seen as a ‘witch hunt’ against the former government.

Merabishvili was one of the most influential figures of the United National Movement.

By Elene Dzebisashvili