TBILISI, DFWatch–Tbilisi City Court Friday night placed former mayor Gigi Ugulava in pretrial detention. He faces charges of money laundering and election fraud.
Ugulava was detained at Tbilisi airport Thursday morning as he was about to take a plane to Ukraine.
The court agreed with a request by the Prosecutor’s Office to secure Ugulava, arguing that there was a danger that he would run away to avoid prosecution.
Apart from the charges concerning money laundering, Ugulava is accused of organized a group action on June 5, 2014, ten days before the local election, to interrupt the activity of the district election commission in Marneuli, a town south of Tbilisi.
Ugulava attended the court hearing, which lasted about five hours Friday evening and ended at midnight. Also present were his family and members of the National Movement.