Court Sends 'Sabotage Case' Against Eight Opposition Figures to Full Trial
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
A Tbilisi court has sent the so-called sabotage case against eight prominent opposition politicians to substantive examination, clearing the way for a full trial. The decision was made by Judge Valerian Bugianishvili after the court ruled all evidence submitted by both the prosecution and the defense admissible.
The next hearing is scheduled for February 23 at 1:00 pm.
Those charged include former president Mikheil Saakashvili, opposition leaders Nika Melia, Nika Gvaramia, Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Giorgi Vashadze, Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze, and Elene Khoshtaria. Prosecutors accuse them of sabotage and assisting a foreign state in hostile activities, charges the defendants describe as politically motivated.
Under the indictment, Giorgi Vashadze and Zurab Girchi Japaridze face charges of sabotage and aiding a foreign country, which carry potential sentences of seven to fifteen years in prison. Elene Khoshtaria is charged with sabotage, providing material resources for the crime, and assisting a foreign power. Nika Melia, Nika Gvaramia, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze are charged with sabotage, while Saakashvili faces a separate charge of calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order.
As a preventive measure, the court set bail at 30,000 GEL for Vashadze and Japaridze, and 1 million GEL for Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze.
Speaking at the hearing, Zurab Girchi Japaridze dismissed the case outright. "This case is nonsense, full of complete absurdities," he said, arguing that the authorities deliberately brought opposition leaders together in court to stage a political spectacle. "All the more or less prominent leaders were put together so a photo could be shown to Ivanishvili's voters," he said.
Giorgi Vashadze said the prosecution had failed to present any evidence linking him to hostile foreign activity. "There is no evidence that I had any dealings with Ukraine or that I provided or received military information," he said, calling the charges a distortion of events surrounding Georgia's stalled EU integration process. "EU accession is written into the Constitution. I was doing my duty. The real sabotage was blocking reforms and passing the so-called Russian law."
Saakashvili, appearing remotely from prison, said the new charges could extend his sentence to 16 years. "That is the kind of sentence given to serial killers and pedophiles," he said. "I am being punished so that I will never see my children again."
He called on opposition forces and society to unite, saying the case was designed to intimidate political opponents. "This regime feeds on fear," Saakashvili said. "Our answer is that we will accept nothing and fear nothing. No matter how high a wall they build, we will break through it."
The prosecution has denied the accusations of political motivation, insisting the case concerns national security. The defendants reject the charges and say the trial is aimed at sidelining key opposition figures ahead of future political battles.
