Ruling Party Proposes Int'l Mission Study Ugulava's Case

At Wednesday's meeting with several MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, majority leaders Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze and the ruling party Georgian Dream's Executive Secretary Irakli Kobakhidze, initiated the creation of a special mission, which will be staffed by representatives of various political groups and will have the full opportunity to thoroughly study the case of opposition leader Gigi Ugulava's arrest on charges of embezzling GEL 48 million from the Tbilisi Development Fund. 

After the meeting, they thanked the representatives of the European Parliament for their support and close cooperation.

“Today, we had several meetings where we discussed the reforms implemented by the ruling force. Fulfillment of the obligations under the Association Agreement was also discussed. The representative of the European Parliament had questions about the case of Gigi Ugulava, to which they received answers. In addition, an offer was made to establish a special international mission, which will study the case closely. They can set up a group of people from different political spectrums to come to Georgia and get acquainted with the materials on this particular case, to make sure that we are dealing with a serious crime,” Kaladze said.  

Kobakhidze noted that the talks focused on cooperation between Georgia and the EU, as well as domestic political processes.

“We have proposed to set up a special mission that will come to Georgia to study the case in detail. There is such a practice in the European Parliament, we have positive feedback on this. We hope that the mission will come in the near future to get acquainted with both the content and the procedural side of the case and to establish the truth, which we all already know. This is a case of embezzlement of GEL 48 million. Our colleagues will be convinced that 48 million was embezzled and naturally, they will agree that this cannot be left unpunished,” he stressed. 

The detention of one of the opposition leaders on February 10 caused criticism among some foreign partners of Georgia. They assessed the case as "using courts as a weapon against political opponents."

In addition, opposition representatives in Georgia suspended dialogue with the ruling party regarding the electoral system after the above, as they consider Ugulava's detention to be an unfair and politically motivated decision, personally taken by Georgian Dream leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is "scared by the unity of the opposition and wants to weaken them."

In turn, the ruling team called on the opposition to join them at the dialogue table.

By Ana Dumbadze 

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