“Shocking even by Georgian Dream’s standards” – Wilson on new charges against opposition leaders

U.S. Republican Congressman and Co-Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Joe Wilson, has responded to the new charges brought against eight Georgian opposition politicians. Wilson says the case is politically motivated and “shocking even by Georgian Dream’s standards.”

“Even by Georgian Dream’s standards, the regime’s new politically motivated charges against opposition leaders are shocking. This sick behavior reflects the tactics of their patrons in Moscow and Beijing. The anti-American Georgian Dream regime is betraying its own people in favor of Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing,” Wilson wrote.

Yesterday, on November 6, Georgian Dream’s Prosecutor’s Office initiated yet another round of criminal prosecution against opposition politicians.

Criminal proceedings were launched against: Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nikanor Melia, Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze.  All of them, except for Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, are currently in custody.

The opposition leaders are being prosecuted on charges of assisting a foreign state in hostile activities, financing activities directed against Georgia’s constitutional order and national security, and calling for the violent overthrow of Georgia’s constitutional system and state authority.