Georgian opposition figure Giorgi Vashadze jailed in widening crackdown

As the ruling party’s crackdown on its rivals continues, an opposition leader has been sentenced to seven months in prison by a Georgian court.

Giorgi Vashadze, a leader of the Strategy Builder party, was sentenced on Tuesday after the Tbilisi court found him guilty of obstructing a commission looking into allegations of power abuse by a former government.

Nearly all of the country’s major pro-European opposition figures are now imprisoned as a result of the jailing. In response to the ongoing protests following last year’s contentious elections, the ruling Georgian Dream party has received more accusations that it is violating democracy.

Vashadze, a deputy justice minister from 2010 to 2012, was found guilty of refusing to cooperate with a government commission looking into alleged abuse committed during the administration’s tenure under former president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Opposition figures claim that the commission is a ruse to intimidate opponents.

Saakashvili is currently serving a 12-and-a-half-year prison term for allegedly pursuing political motives, according to rights organizations.

Vashadze also received a two-year ban from running for office, which is his party’s third-placed coalition.

On the same charge, three additional opposition figures were imprisoned.

Georgia is currently undergoing a total incarceration under the Georgian Dream regime. Before the verdict, Vashadze stated, “We are fighting for the country’s liberation,” according to the AFP news agency.

Turmoil

Since Georgian Dream won a second term in the parliamentary elections in October, the country has experienced political unrest.

Voting irregularities and Russian interference are still brought up by the opposition in the wake of the results.

When the government announced in November that talks with the European Union would be suspended in response to a European Parliament resolution denying the election results, citing “significant irregularities,” a wave of protests erupted.

The protests have continued every night for more than 200 days, despite a recent decrease in their size.

Author of famous poetry detained

Georgia’s most renowned poet, Zviad Ratiani, was detained on suspicion of assaulting a police officer at a protest outside the Tbilisi parliament on Monday night, according to news reports.

He could spend up to seven years behind bars.