To the cheers of "Justice, justice" from opponents gathered outside a regional courthouse, ex-Georgian Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili was committed to jail on May 22 to await trial on criminal charges of misuse of public funds and confiscation of private property.
President Mikheil Saakashvili's opposition United National Movement was quick to describe their secretary-general's detention as a further step in the party's alleged ongoing harassment by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's government. Merabishvili, who served as interior minister from 2004 to 2012, is on a short-list of contenders that the party was considering for a primary for nomination as its candidate for this October's presidential election.
Ex-Health Minister Zurab Chiaberashvili, a former ambassador who was detained on May 21 together with Merabishvili on corruption and abuse of power charges, was offered bail of 20,000 lari (about $12,300), payable within 30 days.
Both men have denied the charges against them. Chiaberashvili is one of the few remaining governors loyal to Saakashvili.
The European Union pledged to cast a cautious eye on the proceedings against them. In a joint statement on May 22, the EU's chiefs for foreign affairs and neighborhood relations – Catherine Ashton and Stefan Fule, respectively – said that they “take a careful note” of the double detention.
After watching the controversial arrest of Ukraine’s ex-Prime Minister Yuliya Timoshenko, the EU appears wary of seeing a similar case in its neighborhood. The EU officials expressed hope that the Georgian authorities will pursue impartial justice in these, and other cases.
At a US State Department briefing on May 22, Acting Deputy Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell echoed that message, saying that Washington has urged the Georgian government to show "full respect for due process" and to steer clear of "the perception or reality of political retribution."
In response to a question, Ventrell said that the US does "not have enough information" about whether or not there is either "perception or reality of political retribution" in the two prosecutions against Merabishvili and Chiaberashvili, but stressed that it is "watching the broad pattern."
Ivanishvili has denied the UNM's accusation of deliberately targeting a political minority and claims he is living up to his promise to voters to restore justice, which his coalition claims was abused by Georgia's previous, UNM-run government.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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