Days After Release, Court Sets GEL 30,000 Bail for Giorgi Vashadze in ‘Sabotage’ Case

2026-01-26 - 17:41

Tbilisi City Court set bail at GEL 30,000 (about USD 11,000) for Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the opposition party Strategy Aghmashenebeli, who is charged with “sabotage” and “aiding a foreign country in hostile activities” in a case targeting seven other opposition politicians. Judge Mzia Garshaulishvili granted the prosecutor’s request for bail as a pretrial restraint on January 26. Vashadze said he will post the bail. The judge also granted an additional request from the prosecutor, ordering Vashadze to surrender his passport and ID and barring him from leaving the country. The court hearing came days after Giorgi Vashadze was released after serving seven months in prison for refusing to appear before the Georgian Dream parliament’s temporary parliamentary investigative commission. The so-called “sabotage” case concerns eight opposition leaders: ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, Strategy Aghmashebeli’s Giorgi Vashadze, Ahali’s Nika Gvaramia and Nika Melia, Girchi-More Freedom’s Zurab Japaridze, Droa’s Elene Khoshtaria, and Lelo for Georgia’s Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze. They are accused of “crimes committed against the state.” The allegations include “sabotage, aiding a foreign country in hostile activities, funding activities directed against the Georgian constitutional order and national security foundations, and calling for violently changing the Georgian constitutional order or overthrowing the state government.” Vashadze faces seven to 15 years in prison if convicted. Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze of Lelo were the first opposition figures in the case to have bail set at GEL 1 million (about USD 370,000) each. They were followed by Zurab Japaridze, leader of Girchi – More Freedom, whose bail ruling also came a few days after his release from prison on December 25, where he had served seven months for defying the Tsulukiani Commission. All of them posted bail. Also Read: 26/01/2026 – Ex-UNM MP Givi Targamadze Released After Seven Months in Prison 26/11/2025 – Nika Melia Sentenced to 1.5 Years for Splashing Water at Judge 15/09/2025 – Elene Khoshtaria Detained Amid Criminal Probe on ‘Damaging’ Kaladze Banners