TBILISI, October 1 – Unfortunately, every time I appear before you, the situation in Georgia is getting worse, Tina Bokuchava said today at a gathering of the European People’s Party (EPP) political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Bokuchava, who is one of the leaders of Georgia’s United National Movement (UNM), claimed that opposition figures are being targeted, citing the recent arrest of Levan Khabeishvili, UNM’s political council chair.
The opposition figure also noted that today marks four years since former president Mikheil Saakashvili was imprisoned. Bokuchava described Saakashvili as a political prisoner and urged EPP colleagues to support a resolution on democracy and rule of law in Georgia.
The EPP is one of Europe’s major political party families and has long maintained ties with UNM, which has been in opposition since 2012. Such meetings provide a platform for Georgian opposition leaders to present their views directly to their political allies in Europe.
The Georgian Dream government and its supporters have rejected opposition claims of political persecution, insisting that court cases involving opposition figures are legal matters, not politically motivated. Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, was convicted in absentia on abuse of power charges and later jailed after returning to the country in 2021. His supporters argue the charges are politically driven.
