How repressions in Georgia reached the leadership of the ruling party

A former head of government has received an actual prison sentence. In EU countries, this would most likely be a story about corruption. In Georgia, it is about political revenge.

The most astonishing aspect, however,  is the choice of the target. This time, punishment has befallen a politician who is very difficult to accuse of opposition activity.

On 12 January, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, the court approved a plea agreement of guilt for the country’s two-time prime minister and former minister of internal affairs and defence, Irakli Garibashvili, sentencing him to five years in prison.

Read more about the case and what it may signify in the article by Amiran Khevtsuriani of the Georgian-Ukrainian Center (Tbilisi), and Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor: Friendly fire: why Georgia’s recent head of government became Saakashvili’s 'cellmate.' 

By the end of last year, it had become clear that Irakli Garibashvili could soon join the list of top politicians who have ended up behind bars.

On 17 October, a search was conducted at the former prime minister’s apartment. A week later, Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office charged Garibashvili with laundering particularly large amounts of illicit income.

According to the investigation, while in office Garibashvili "secretly and actively engaged in various types of entrepreneurial activity and received especially large sums of income of illegal origin," and also submitted false information in his asset declarations, claiming that each year he received large sums of money as gifts from a family member.

The court’s decision was symbolic, as Irakli Garibashvili is regarded as a key figure of the Georgian Dream era. For many years, he was also a trusted associate of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party’s founder and honorary chairman.

Garibashvili worked in Ivanishvili’s structures even before Ivanishvili entered politics – first at the Cartu Group holding, and later as head of the Cartu charitable foundation.

That is why in 2012, immediately after Georgian Dream came to power, Garibashvili received the highly influential post of Minister of Internal Affairs. The following year, he was promoted to prime minister.

It is difficult to call Garibashvili a successful head of government. He was remembered mainly for corruption scandals and blatant nepotism.

The current downfall of Irakli Garibashvili has generated many theories. However, the real reason why Bidzina Ivanishvili sacrificed his once-prominent favourite remains unclear.

Still, several points deserve attention.

The first telling point is that Bidzina Ivanishvili punished only those people from his inner circle who were not subject to Western sanctions. Evidently, this fact aroused serious suspicions on his part.

Another point is Garibashvili’s behavior at the end of 2024, immediately after the Georgian government abandoned the course toward European integration and mass protests began.

For a long time, he did not appear in public, allegedly due to a sports injury. Some time later, he resigned as chairman of the party.

It is likely that Ivanishvili became disappointed in the loyalty of the man he had appointed prime minister twice. However, he did not take revenge immediately, instead waiting for the political situation to stabilise.

It cannot be ruled out that the Georgian authorities, influenced by events in Venezuela and Iran, are trying these scenarios on themselves.

And therefore, "as a preventive measure," they are sending a signal: any disloyalty will be punished harshly.

This has been proven by the verdict against Irakli Garibashvili.