TBILISI, September 24 – Lawyers for Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the political council of Georgia’s opposition United National Movement (UNM), are doubling down on claims that his arrest is politically motivated.
Khabeishvili was detained earlier this month by Georgia’s State Security Service and charged with publicly promising money to officials in exchange for political support. Prosecutors brought the case under Article 339, Part 2 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which deals with bribery and carries a sentence of four to seven years. He has since been remanded in custody.
The charges allege that Khabeishvili tried to seek the loyalty of police employees in connection with the local elections on October 4 – a period during which he has openly called on people to stage a revolution. Levan Khabeishvili is alleged to have offered a USD 200,000 bribe to police officers, including members of the Interior Ministry’s Special Tasks Department, if they refused to disperse protesters, withheld use of legally permitted force, or provided him with classified internal information during nationwide protests tied to October 4 elections. He is also accused of promising the same reward for officers who neglect training or fail to carry out official duties.
At a press briefing, Khabeishvili’s attorney, Lasha Tkhesheladze, said the charges run counter to Georgia’s Organic Law on Political Unions of Citizens. He argued the law makes clear that campaign pledges involving the use of future state funds are not criminal. “The charge against Levan Khabeishvili is political and fabricated,” Tkhesheladze said. “The law directly says promises about future budget spending or future state policy are not prohibited.”
Tkhesheladze accused the ruling Georgian Dream party and the prosecutor’s office of carrying out a “political order.” He told reporters: “For the first time in Georgia’s history, a person has been arrested for a political promise.”
Khabeishvili’s UNM party was founded by former president Mikheil Saakashvili and held power from 2004-2012. Since then, it has remained the main challenger to Georgian Dream but is still deeply polarizing among the Georgian population, due to its authoritarian style of governance while in power.
