Georgia Jails Former PM for Five Years

Georgia’s former prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, has been sentenced to five years in prison on money laundering charges, the country’s prosecutor’s office announced on Monday. 

Garibashvili, who served two separate terms as prime minister between 2013 and 2015 and again from 2021 to 2024, was accused of laundering illicit income over five years from 2019 to 2024.

Prosecutors said a search of his apartment uncovered and led to the seizure of $6.5 million in cash.

According to the prosecution, Garibashvili admitted to receiving illegal income over several years following coordinated anti-corruption raids carried out in October at the homes and offices of multiple former senior officials.

In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said it had concluded a plea deal with the former prime minister, under which he was formally convicted and handed a five-year custodial sentence.

The jailing comes against the backdrop of a deepening political crisis in the Caucasus nation, which borders Russia.

Tensions have escalated since October, when the Georgian Dream party declared victory in parliamentary elections that opposition groups have dismissed as fraudulent.

During his time in office, Garibashvili was regarded as a central figure in policies that tightened restrictions on civil society organisations and intensified pressure on government critics.

He was also widely seen as a close ally of Georgian Dream founder and influential oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Several other senior figures linked to the ruling party have also been imprisoned in recent months as part of what authorities describe as a broad anti-corruption campaign.

However, political analysts suggest the arrests may reflect internal power struggles within Georgian Dream, particularly as some party leaders have been targeted by Western sanctions.