Kinzinger on Ugulava's arrest: using courts as weapons is not a democracy
Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who is co-chair of the friends of Georgia group in the U.S. House of representatives, responded to the fact that one of the leaders of the Georgian opposition, Gigi Ugulava, was convicted.
Kinzinger has previously sent several critical letters to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Georgi Gakharii, in which, among other things, he called "disturbing" reports that " prosecutors appointed by the Georgian dream are resuming the investigation of old cases against the party's opponents."
Gigi Ugulava was sentenced for embezzling state property when he was mayor of Tbilisi.
Now, according to the verdict of the Supreme court, Ugulava is accused of embezzling 48 million lari (about 16 million dollars) from the "Tbilisi development Fund". The charge was reclassified from the article "abuse of office" to the article "embezzlement of state property". As a result, the Supreme court sentenced the former mayor of Tbilisi to nine years in prison. Given the Amnesty law and the fact that Ugulava was already in prison, Ugulava was additionally sentenced to 3 years, 2 months and 8 days in prison.
The Prosecutor's office resumed the case against Ugulava in the Supreme court after a wave of protests and opposition rallies demanding electoral reform. The opposition has already called the verdict "politically motivated".
Ugulava himself arrived at the police station in Ortachala a few hours after the sentencing. There, he told reporters that the opposition will continue to fight and his detention is only one of its stages. Ugulava will still be in prison in the fall, when parliamentary elections are due to take place in Georgia.
Because of ugulav's arrest, the United opposition has already refused to continue negotiations with the ruling party to find a compromise option for changing the electoral system.
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Kinzinger on Ugulava's arrest: using courts as weapons is not a democracy
Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who is co-chair of the friends of Georgia group in the U.S. House of representatives, responded to the fact that one of the leaders of the Georgian opposition, Gigi Ugulava, was convicted.
Kinzinger has previously sent several critical letters to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Georgi Gakharii, in which, among other things, he called "disturbing" reports that " prosecutors appointed by the Georgian dream are resuming the investigation of old cases against the party's opponents."
Gigi Ugulava was sentenced for embezzling state property when he was mayor of Tbilisi.
Now, according to the verdict of the Supreme court, Ugulava is accused of embezzling 48 million lari (about 16 million dollars) from the "Tbilisi development Fund". The charge was reclassified from the article "abuse of office" to the article "embezzlement of state property". As a result, the Supreme court sentenced the former mayor of Tbilisi to nine years in prison. Given the Amnesty law and the fact that Ugulava was already in prison, Ugulava was additionally sentenced to 3 years, 2 months and 8 days in prison.
The Prosecutor's office resumed the case against Ugulava in the Supreme court after a wave of protests and opposition rallies demanding electoral reform. The opposition has already called the verdict "politically motivated".
Ugulava himself arrived at the police station in Ortachala a few hours after the sentencing. There, he told reporters that the opposition will continue to fight and his detention is only one of its stages. Ugulava will still be in prison in the fall, when parliamentary elections are due to take place in Georgia.
Because of ugulav's arrest, the United opposition has already refused to continue negotiations with the ruling party to find a compromise option for changing the electoral system.
newsgeorgia.ge
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