Feb 2: Nika Gvaramia- injustice in Georgia
Thread published by Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff on January 29, 2023
Nika Gvaramia- injustice in Georgia
Sofia Liuashvili, Gvaramia’s wife (see picture), visited the General Marshall Fund in Berlin last week to inform us about what is widely seen as a wildly disproportionate sentence in trumped up charges of a blatantly political case. Sofia seeks help from the European 🇪🇺public to free her husband.
Not just Sofia sees this as a case designed to silence free and liberal media in🇬🇪. On the day of the verdict of the Tbilisi Appeals Court (Dec 2nd, 2022), the U.S.
Embassy protested, and the EU Commission raised rule of law concerns about🇬🇪. The🇪🇺European Parliament followed suit.
Nika Gvaramia was a Minister of Justice and a Minister of Education and Science until 2009. Later, he became a journalist and media entrepreneur. As his latest endeavour, he started and directed a new TV station.
The TV station took pride in uncovering details about the 🇷🇺-connection of the country's dominant and politically influential oligarch. It 2022, he researched how the ruling party undermines Western sanctions against🇷🇺 and how 🇬🇪is used as a transport link to Russia.
Nika Gvaramia has been in jail since May 16th, 2022, and will be imprisoned until November 15th, 2025 - unless pardoned by 🇬🇪's president or released early on other grounds.
🇬🇪has applied to be a member of the 🇪🇺 Union. The EU Commission says: "Recent developments have [...] weakened the independence of key judicial institutions." The verdict against Gvaramia is a case in point. Western diplomacy should support calls for his release.