Opposition leader faces charges in Georgia over parliamentary no-show

Georgia's Prosecutor General has filed charges against Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the opposition party "Strong Georgia," for failing to attend a parliamentary commission meeting investigating crimes during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili.

The charges were confirmed in an official statement from the Prosecutor’s Office, Caliber.Az reports per Georgian media.

"Georgia's Prosecutor’s Office has brought charges against Mamuka Khazaradze for failing to comply with a lawful request from the temporary investigative commission of the Georgian Parliament," the statement reads.

Khazaradze, a co-founder of the TBC Bank, was summoned to the commission meeting on March 25. The commission had planned to question him regarding the cases of private entrepreneurs who suffered during Saakashvili's administration. 

Many of these individuals lost significant sums of money due to loans with TBC Bank. The investigative commission also suspects that the bank colluded with the authorities at the time, with its leaders being held responsible for cases where business owners were extorted, driven to bankruptcy, or imprisoned on fabricated charges.

The Prosecutor’s Office clarified that Khazaradze had received a notice on March 22 about the meeting but failed to attend. Under Article 349 of the Georgian Criminal Code, failure to comply with the temporary investigative commission's requests can result in a fine, imprisonment for up to one year, or a ban on professional activities for up to three years.

In response to the summons, Khazaradze posted on his social media, stating he deliberately chose not to attend the commission's session, referring to the meetings as a "circus performance."

By Aghakazim Guliyev