Papuashvili: Gharibashvili's Political Statements Show Weakness of Legal Position
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, September 3, 2026
Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili should respond to the charges against him through legal means rather than turning the matter into a political dispute.
"There is a charge, a legal process, and it requires a legal response. Transferring this into the political realm shows that the legal positions are typically weak," Papuashvili told journalists.
He was responding to another letter published by Gharibashvili from prison.
Papuashvili also spoke about Gharibashvili's reference to the death of human rights defender Lazare Jorbenadze, saying personal tragedies should not be used for political purposes.
"I would not wish for anyone that other people's personal tragedies are used for political insinuations," he said.
Papuashvili said legal claims made by the prosecution or investigators should be answered through legal arguments.
"We have seen attempts to transfer this into the political realm at various times, but this brings no results. There are legal issues, a charge brought by the Prosecutor's Office. This charge needs a response. I think everything else, political insinuations, is superfluous," he said.
He also criticized the opposition for trying to benefit politically from Gharibashvili's statements.
"We have just seen that the radical opposition is trying to speculate. They have neither the ability to do anything nor to spoil anything. They are absolutely zeroed out," Papuashvili said.
According to him, the opposition tries to associate itself with positive developments while using negative developments to attack the government.
On the suicide attempt by former Adjara government head Tornike Rizhvadze, Papuashvili said Rizhvadze had explained his decision in a letter.
"Fortunately, this attempt was unsuccessful, however, he had also written a letter and had explained why he reached that decision," he said. "All these insinuations have answers; there is no circumstance related to any of these issues that is shrouded in fog or unclear."
Gharibashvili, who is currently in prison, published another letter in which he accused his former Georgian Dream colleagues, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Mamuka Mdinaradze of causing serious and irreversible damage to the country, the public and Georgian Dream.
"Mdinaradze's withdrawal from politics cannot erase the heaviest and irreparable damage inflicted on the country, on people, and on Georgian Dream with the participation of him and Irakli Kobakhidze," Gharibashvili wrote.
He also asked fot the "real reason" of Jorbenadze's death and said unanswered questions remained about the suicides of several people during the Kobakhidze-Mdinaradze period.
Papuashvili also dismissed claims that the case against Gharibashvili was linked to his political rating.
Asked whether Georgian Dream had conducted an internal survey and whether Gharibashvili's rating had increased, Papuashvili said no such survey had been carried out following his latest letters.
"[Internal party surveys] are conducted periodically. What is measured and how is a matter of internal research," Papuashvili said.
