Georgia has detained Giorgi Baramidze, a former defense and interior minister and onetime acting prime minister, as well as a leader of Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement party. The charge relates to "treason, namely sabotage," according to infohub.kz.
Deputy Prosecutor General of Georgia Amiran Guluashvili explained that Baramidze will be charged with "treason, namely sabotage." The decision was made "on the basis of a court ruling."
The criminal case stems from Baramidze's remarks on the program "The Birth of Georgia," which aired on July 18 on the YouTube channel of the same name run by Iago Khvichia, leader of the opposition libertarian party New Political Center — Girchi. During the interview, the 58-year-old politician said, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, that at the start of the 1992–1993 war in Abkhazia, Georgian soldiers did not take prisoners but shot them on the spot, and because of this the Georgian side, unlike the Abkhaz side, had no exchange fund.
Law enforcement launched an investigation into Giorgi Baramidze's statement on August 7, after a complaint from the state service for veterans' affairs. Ultimately, the Prosecutor General's Office said it found no facts confirming the shooting of prisoners by the Georgian army. Officials called Baramidze's statement "unfounded and fabricated," noting that it "is deliberately ideological and propagandistic in nature and also helps undermine Georgia's state and national interests, its external security, defense capability and state institutions."
In addition, the Prosecutor General's Office believes Baramidze's words damaged "Georgia's image," harmed the reputation of the country's Defense Forces, "offended the honor and dignity of veterans of the war in Abkhazia and fallen servicemen," and also "endangered the process of reconciliation and confidence-building among the population affected by the conflict, undermined Georgia's policy of peace and de-occupation, and hindered the normal work of state agencies."
Prosecutor General's Office representatives now intend to seek Baramidze's pre-trial detention through court. "The investigation is ongoing; the public will be informed of its progress and results," law enforcement emphasized.