The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia said that several people, including jailed former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, opposition members, and conservative figures, will be questioned after Garibashvili’s statement questioning the “real cause” of death of an ultra-conservative commentator critical of Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stirred controversy.
In his September 1 statement, Garibashvili asked what was the “real cause ” of death of Lazare Jorbenadze, a “former rights defender” who allegedly died by suicide in April. In months preceding his death, Jorbenadze had accused Kobakhidze of handing lands to Azerbaijan, including in a series of comments given to regular conservative and conspiratorial newspaper Asaval-Dasavali.
Garibashvili alleged that he was sent a February-dated copy of one of his Asaval-Dasavali interviews in jail, and was asked whether he was behind the piece, which he denied. The ex-PM said the copy was sent to him “on the instruction of” Kobakhidze and recently resigned GD official Mamuka Mdinaradze, with Garibashvili pointing in his statement to “unanswered questions” over the suicides of “multiple” people during the “Kobakhidze-Mdinaradze rule.”
Responding to Garibashvili’s statement and the discussions it caused, the Prosecutor’s Office maintained on September 3 that the investigation into Jorbenadze’s April 4 death has, at this stage, “conclusively established” that he died by suicide. According to the statement, the Interior Ministry has carried out “a number of investigative and procedural actions” and questioned people who had contact with Jorbenadze, including his family members and spouse.
The agency added that, despite the findings, investigators within a probe ongoing at the Interior Ministry under the supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office will additionally question Garibashvili, but also other opposition and public figures, “based on their publicly made statements,” including:
- Nika Gvaramia, opposition Ahali party leader
- Khatia Dekanoidze, opposition United National Movement party member
- Nanuka Zhorzholiani, TV personality and activist
- Tazo Datunashvili, member of opposition Lelo/Strong Georgia party
- Gia Khukhashvili, political commentator
- Irma Inashvili, journalist and leader of nativist Alliance of Patriots party
- Zaza Davitaia, former Asaval-Dasavali journalist
- Giorgi Liluashvili, leader of conservative Georgia party
- Ermile Nemsadze, ultra-conservative figure, former member of far-right Georgian March party
- Giorgi Gigauri, a government-critical commentator
Garibashvili’s statement came as part of a series of allegations against his former colleagues in the ruling Georgian Dream party, with the ex-PM accusing the GD government of pressuring him to take the blame in a corruption case as a guarantee that he would stay out of politics. Garibashvili, who is serving a five-year sentence after pleading guilty in a money-laundering case, was additionally charged with bribery, a corruption-related offence, in August, following his initial accusatory statements.
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