Page 6 - GEORptAug19

On the political front, ex-Georgian defence minister Irakli Okruashvili was arrested on July 25 over anti-government protests seen in Tbilisi on the night of June 20-21 when protesters attempted to storm the parliament but where beaten back by riot police. Okruashvili, presently engaged in a legal battle over the ownership of the country’s main TV station Rustavi 2, has alleged his arrest is part of an attempt by the billionaire head of Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, to control independent media ahead of what are expected to be tight parliamentary elections next year.
2.0 Politics
2.1 Intrigue as ex-Georgian defence minister arrested
over anti-government protests
Battle for Rustavi 2
Irakli Okruashvili, who served as Georgian defence minister from 2004 to 2006 under then president Mikheil Saakashvili, was arrested on July 25 on charges of “organising, leading and participating” in mass violence during the unrest seen in Tbilisi on the night of 20-21 June when protesters attempted to storm the parliament but where beaten back by riot police.
Okruashvili, presently engaged in a legal battle over the ownership of the country’s main TV station Rustavi 2, has alleged his arrest is part of an attempt by the billionaire head of Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, to control independent media ahead of what are expected to be tight parliamentary elections next year.
The arrest came a day after influential Georgian banker and businessman Mamuka Khazaradze, founder and— until he resigned on July 25 —board chairman of Georgia’s FTSE 250-listed TBC Bank Group, was arrested on controversial money laundering accusations related to activities that took place as long ago as 2007-2008. Just like Okruashvili, Khazaradze also pointed the finger at Ivanishvili, who, he claimed was looking to take control of the country’s flagship infrastructure investment project, which aims to build a deep sea port at Anaklia on the Black Sea coast.
Okruashvili’s lawyer, Mamuka Chabashvili, stated that his client was arrested on Ivanishvili’s orders as part of the battle for control of the Rustavi 2 TV station, which has been run as a pro-West media platform expressing firm criticism directed at Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream government.
Separately, Okruashvili, no longer linked to the self-exiled Saakashvili, who dismissed him in 2006, has returned to politics in June by setting up an opposition political vehicle, Victorious Georgia, ahead of next year’s elections. This must be a concern to the ruling regime that saw its preferred candidate only just scrape through to win the presidency late last year.
Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream is currently losing support in the opinion polls. According to a poll conducted in May-June, if the parliamentary elections were held around now it would be defeated by the two main opposition parties.
6 GEORGIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com