Imprisoned former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili, who has been handed a second set of charges, is demanding that his case be heard in open court sessions.
In his tenth letter from prison, published on November 9, he stated that last Monday, November 2, when the substantive hearing of his case began, he intended to speak in the courtroom about “facts of political persecution and pressure,” but the hearing was closed to the public through an “unjust decision.”
He described as discrimination the fact that similar cases have been heard in open court, whereas he has been denied that opportunity. According to him, “when a trial is closed, public scrutiny and media oversight are stripped away, making it possible to conceal systemic flaws, as well as the ongoing political persecution and reprisal against me.”
“This decision by the authorities is driven by fear and aimed at ensuring the process takes place in the ‘dark.’ I, however, want to state: I have nothing to hide. Accordingly, I demanded to make the process open and bring it into the ‘light,'” Garibashvili stated.
In his assessment, a “targeted process has been launched against him that has nothing to do with justice and is purely an act of political persecution and settling scores.”
Substantive consideration of the second criminal case brought against Garibashvili—involving “accepting a bribe”—commenced in Tbilisi City Court on November 2. The accused former prime minister was also present at that hearing.
On that day, despite objections from his defense counsel, the judge granted the prosecutor’s motion and fully closed the proceedings, permitting only the parties to the case to attend.
Following the presentation of the new charges, it was the first time Garibashvili had attended his own trial. During the closed session, he claimed that he had been subjected to “psychological and moral torture” by an “authorized official” to coerce him into confessing to a crime he did not commit.
Letters from Prison:
Irakli Garibashvili served as Prime Minister of Georgia twice—from November 20, 2013, to December 23, 2015, and from February 22, 2021, to February 8, 2024. In addition, he twice chaired the ruling Georgian Dream party. Garibashvili finally left the party in April 2025, several months after stepping down as prime minister. At the time, he stated that he no longer saw a need to remain party chairman or stay in politics altogether. However, the former prime minister maintained that he remained a “loyal soldier” of Ivanishvili’s team.
Subsequently, the politician was detained, charged with corruption, and sentenced to 5 years in prison (he faced between 9 and 12 years in prison, but in January 2026 it was revealed that he had admitted guilt and entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office).
On August 24, Garibashvili was presented with a new charge—taking a bribe on an especially large scale by a group of persons through prior conspiracy. This criminal charge carries a sentence ranging from 11 to 15 years’ imprisonment. This time, the former prime minister refused to plead guilty and declared his intention to fight for justice.
Meanwhile, since mid-August, Garibashvili has been regularly publishing letters on social media, asserting that he is being “forced” into an open fight.
- On August 17, Irakli Garibashvili openly spoke out against the ruling team and Bidzina Ivanishvili for the first time—stating that, “on the instructions of Bidzina Ivanishvili,” a letter was sent to him proposing that he “confess” to an unspecified corruption crime in order to hedge against a 1-percent “risk” of his return to politics. He placed full responsibility for his own safety and that of his family directly on Ivanishvili and the current authorities;
- In his August 18 post, he made no mention of Ivanishvili, stating instead that the sender of the letter was Mamuka Mdinaradze—who had at various times served as vice prime minister, minister, head of the SSG (State Security Service of Georgia), and parliamentary majority leader. In the same letter, Garibashvili noted that he had “done everything” to avoid a confrontation with his team and close associates. He cited this as the reason for confessing to the corruption charges brought against him, which led to a 5-year prison sentence under a plea agreement. Nine days after Garibashvili’s letter was published, Mdinaradze unexpectedly announced his departure from politics;
- In his third open letter from prison, dated August 20, the former prime minister alleged threats of arrest directed at members of his family. According to the politician, he is being pressured to plead guilty in the new case “solely to hedge against the so-called one-percent risk conveyed by you and to permanently remove me from politics.” The former prime minister claimed this was accompanied by “amoral blackmail and pressure”: “For the second time now, there was an allusion to the arrest of my 75-year-old father”;
- On August 25, the former Georgian prime minister issued another letter from prison, stating that he saw no point in attending court hearings because the new criminal case against him was purely political. Garibashvili called the proceedings a “political masquerade” and emphasized that truth was now his only path and weapon in the fight;
- In a letter dated September 1, the former prime minister stated that he had questions regarding the suicide of an interviewee for the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali, who had praised him and criticized Irakli Kobakhidze. According to Garibashvili, some had questioned the suicide narrative: “I am raising this question publicly because there are still unanswered questions in society regarding the suicides of several individuals that occurred during the rule of Kobakhidze-Mdinaradze.” Following the letter’s release, opposition leaders were summoned for questioning, but not the politicians mentioned in the post;
- In a September 7 letter, Irakli Garibashvili stated that “dirty political games” were being waged against him, adding that he had recently heard indignities and false claims from people who had lost their human decency. According to the former prime minister, the authorities are attempting to discredit him by linking him to the United National Movement, but these “ridiculous and helpless” methods are in vain. The politician declared that Georgian Dream was orchestrating a “disgusting and tragic” masquerade;
- On September 21, in his seventh letter, he once again addressed his former allies, asserting that they had “confused even their own voters” and sown “fear of hopelessness, instability, and an unpredictable future.” “You are already walking down Saakashvili’s path and bringing back the governing methods of the United National Movement.” According to Garibashvili, he was promised that if he pleaded guilty, a plea bargain would be struck with investigators, resulting in a lengthy suspended sentence and a fine, but no prison term. However, the former prime minister claims he was “duped”;
- On September 30, the former prime minister once again released a letter from prison highlighting his achievements during his second term as head of the Georgian government. “Almost three years have passed since then, and I want to ask the people: has the situation in the country improved or worsened—both in domestic and foreign policy?!” Garibashvili wrote;
- On October 20, the politician published his ninth open letter. In it, he described the case as politically motivated and built on slander, and also detailed his achievements—”what was done to bolster the country’s defense during my tenure as prime minister and minister of defense.”
