The arrest of Georgy Baramidze has been extended.

The Tbilisi City Court kept one of the leaders of the "United National Movement" Georgy Baramidze in custody, accused of treason.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Georgy Baramidze was detained in Tbilisi on the 653rd day of continuous protests. On September 12, he was arrested on charges of treason.

The capital court in Georgia kept one of the leaders of the "United National Movement" Georgy Baramidze in custody. The decision was made by Judge Levan Gelovani, reported the Pirveli TV company today.

18:56 03.02.2026

Former Vice Prime Minister of Georgia sentenced in absentia for mercenarism

A Russian court in Donetsk sentenced former Vice Prime Minister of Georgia Georgy Baramidze to 6.5 years for participating in hostilities on the side of Ukraine.

The case concerns Baramidze's statement about the Abkhazian war. In particular, it refers to his claim that "at the initial stage of the armed conflict in Abkhazia in 1992-1993, representatives of the armed forces of Georgia did not take prisoners and shot them on the spot.".

According to the prosecutor's office, this statement harmed the reputation of the Defense Forces of Georgia, infringed on the honor and dignity of veterans of the Abkhazian war and deceased servicemen. The agency also noted that Georgy Baramidze's actions created a threat to the process of reconciliation and rebuilding trust with the population affected by the conflict, harmed Georgia's peacekeeping policy and de-occupation policy.

Georgy Baramidze himself stated during the trial that the process against him is a typical Russian method to discredit a person, "to drag his name and biography through the mud," reports Interpressnews.

"Can anyone accuse me of wanting bad for this country? It's just nonsense. If I offended someone, I apologized," the politician stated.

According to Baramidze, the charges against him are lies, and he did not say such words.

"I am accused of something that is a lie. I also acknowledged that some word may sound harsh, someone may use it incorrectly, and I clarified this in writing, orally, in appeals, on television, and on Facebook,*" added Georgy Baramidze.

At the initiative of the ruling party "Georgian Dream," the article on treason was returned to the Criminal Code in the spring of 2025. It does not contain a separate sanction by itself, but works as a "framework" or legal qualifying feature. With reference to Article 307¹, a person can be officially declared a "traitor to the homeland" in case of accusations of espionage, sabotage, transfer and disclosure of state secrets, aiding hostile activities of a foreign state, and so on. Over the past year, cases under these articles have been initiated against several well-known opposition figures, writes "News Georgia".