Former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili published a Facebook post from prison stating that a letter was delivered to him on the instructions of Bidzina Ivanishvili, leaving him with “no choice” but to confront the “dignity-stripping evil.”
“This letter was sent to me on the instructions of Bidzina Ivanishvili. I tried everything and did everything possible to avoid taking this step, but unfortunately, I was left with no choice but to fight back against this dignity-insulting evil! Against this ruthless cruelty, oppression/injustice, and dirty plan to destroy me and my family! Tomorrow I will publish an extensive letter and tell the public my truth! From today on, the full responsibility for the safety of myself and my family rests with Bidzina Ivanishvili and the entire government!” Garibashvili wrote in the post.
The cited letter states: “Such ‘supporters’ as Dito Chubinidze and Irma Inashvili, as well as organized campaigns on social media, have raised very serious doubts and caused us severe damage.
Very intensive work is underway on several cases, the probable outcome of which will be corruption charges. Therefore, there are two options for our actions:
1. Fight seriously in court and see it through to the end.
2. (The second option they themselves offered us as a compromise solution) — to admit guilt in (take the blame for) some single case where everything was prearranged: both the confession and witness testimonies, etc. In this case, they offer a plea agreement for the same 5-year term, meaning, as explained to me, the sentences will run concurrently and remain at the same 5 years. After your release, you must not come anywhere near politics, and if you ‘decide to double-cross,’ the admitted corruption charge will serve as a safeguard so that you wouldn’t even think of returning to politics.”
As a reminder, former Prime Minister Garibashvili was detained on January 12; a plea bargain was concluded with him, and he was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment.
The criminal article under which Irakli Garibashvili was charged carries a sentence ranging from 9 to 12 years of imprisonment.
As an additional penalty, the former prime minister was fined 1 million GEL (Georgian lari), and funds “obtained through criminal activity” and seized during the search were confiscated. During the search of Garibashvili’s residence, $6.5 million was seized.
On October 24, in a particularly large-scale money laundering case, bail was set for Garibashvili as a preventive measure in the amount of 1 million GEL. In addition to bail, Garibashvili’s passport was seized and he was barred from leaving the country pending a final ruling.
The Prosecutor’s Office indicted the former prime minister on September 24. According to the agency, Garibashvili had pleaded guilty.
It is also recalled that, according to the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG), residential and personal searches of Irakli Garibashvili, Grigol Liluashvili, and Otar Partskhaladze, as well as affiliated individuals (a total of 8 persons), resulted in the seizure of cash totaling $7,002,200 and 136,000 GEL, 198 pieces of jewelry and watches, valuable paintings, several thousand pages of documentation, 50 mobile phones, and 119 electronic devices.
According to Prosecutor General Ivanishvili, residential and personal searches of Irakli Garibashvili, Grigol Liluashvili, and Otar Partskhaladze, as well as affiliated individuals (a total of 8 persons), were conducted on October 17 as part of investigations into various criminal cases.
