TBILISI, December 19 – A leading figure in Georgia’s opposition “Coalition for Change,” Zurab Japaridze, was released from Rustavi No. 12 penitentiary on Friday, December 19, after serving a seven month sentence.
Japaridze was arrested on May 22 inside a courtroom. He had been summoned to appear before a temporary parliamentary investigative commission to give an explanation, but did not show up.
Prosecutors charged him under Georgia’s Criminal Code Article 349, described in the coverage as failure to comply with a request from a temporary parliamentary investigative commission.
The release itself quickly turned into a new flashpoint.
Japaridze said he expected to be released around 10:30 a.m., but was told to leave around 8:00 a.m., adding that no explanation was given. He said he left in a T shirt and that a jacket sent to him the day before was not allowed in because it was “too thick” and did not meet standards, and that he used a taxi driver’s phone outside the prison to contact a family member.
Several political allies argued the early release appeared designed to prevent images of supporters greeting him outside the prison gates, and said they would instead meet him at his home.
Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service pushed back in a written statement later on December 19, saying the law provides that a convicted person is released the day before the final day of a sentence.
It said legislation does not require advance notice or any agreement with a prisoner about the exact release time, and called “a lie” the claim that Japaridze had been told a specific release time days earlier. The agency said he was released around 8:30 a.m., after formalities were completed under the day’s schedule starting at 8:00 a.m.
After leaving custody, Japaridze said he planned to go to Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi later on Friday, where daily protests have been held for over a year by opponents of the current government.
