Georgian Opposition Leaders United in Defiance Against State Charges, Claiming Ivanishvili Seeks Dictatorship
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, November 7, 2025
The political crisis in Georgia escalated this week after the Prosecutor General's Office initiated criminal proceedings against eight leading opposition figures, including former President Mikheil Saakashvili, on serious charges of sabotage, aiding hostile foreign states, and financing activities against the constitutional order.
Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvarakidze announced the charges against Mikheil Saakashvili, Nika Gvaramia, Elene Khoshtaria, Badri Japaridze, Mamuka Khazaradze, and others, alleging they acted to the detriment of Georgia's interests by seeking to create a pretext for international sanctions. The charges include specific counts of sabotage against several individuals, while Saakashvili is charged with "calling for the violent change of the constitutional order of Georgia or the overthrow of the state government."
The targeted opposition figures immediately denounced the legal action as political persecution orchestrated by former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Tina Bokuchava, Chairwoman of the United National Movement (UNM), declared the charges were proof of a wider autocratic agenda. "This is proof that Ivanishvili intends to establish a dictatorship in the country," she stated, warning that the regime's ultimate goal is to abolish not only political parties but also free media, the civil sector, and ultimately, Georgia as an independent, sovereign state. Bokuchava stressed that the regime's fear lies in the opposition's cohesion: "Ivanishvili's regime is afraid of only one thing - this is our unity."
Badri Japaridze, Chairman of Lelo for Georgia, accused the government of undermining the nation's European future. "The absurdity that I heard that we are being accused of sabotage against the state is the opposite of reality, because the reality is that the Georgian Dream is engaged in sabotage towards the state," he asserted, adding that by pursuing this course, the government "is accelerating the digging of its political grave."
Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa party, responded with sarcasm to the accusation that she worked for sanctions against the ruling party, which she labels the "Russian Dream." "Thanks very much to the Prosecutor's Office for appreciating my work. I have never been good at PR," she wrote, confirming her political focus: "I have been working intensively on the sanctioning of the 'Russian Dream'. But you have to admit that I have been working against Russia since 2002, and not only for the last year."
Nika Gvaramia, the imprisoned leader of the Coalition for Change, declared that the opposition's firm refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the parliament had already weakened the government, making it "unrecognized, untouchable, illegitimate." "A little more patience! The oligarchy must fall!" Gvaramia concluded.
