After sentencing Ugulava, Georgian opposition refuses to negotiate with authorities

After the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to increase the punishment under the embezzlement case, Gigi Ugulava, a former Mayor of Tbilisi and one of the leaders of the "European Georgia" Party, has voluntarily surrendered to law enforcers. Leaders of oppositional parties and movements treated the toughened verdict as a political repression and refused to negotiate with authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 28, 2018, the court sentenced Ugulava to one year and three months in prison as part of the investigation into embezzlement of about 20 million US dollars, but treated the term as already served. On February 10, 2020, the SC considered the complaint and increased Ugulava's prison term up to three years and two months.

In response to the verdict in Ugulava's case, David Bakradze, one of the leaders of the "European Georgia" Party, has announced the suspension of negotiations of the opposition with the authorities, the "Sputnik-Georgia" reports.

According to Mr Bakradze, the verdict to Ugulava "means the end of any justice system in the country."

Shalva Natelashvili, the leader of the Labour Party, has also announced the termination of negotiations with the authorities over the electoral system. "We stop any talks and are moving on to preparing a big wave of people's disobedience," he said on air of the "Public Broadcaster" TV Channel.

Earlier, Elena Khoshtariya, the leader of the "European Georgia" Party, when speaking on air of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Company, announced the cessation of any negotiations with the authorities.