Authorities in Georgia on Friday raided the homes of several former high-ranking politicians, including ex-prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, AFP reported, TASR writes. The news website Echo Kaukazu added that none of the persons whose apartments were searched were neither questioned nor detained.
Given that these shows focused on personalities for a long time linked to the ruling Georgian Dream party and the security forces, according to AFP, it may indicate a shake-up among the ruling elite. So far, repression in Georgia has focused mainly on the opposition and well-known pro-European activists.
The reason for Friday’s raids is currently unknown. The ruling party did not comment on this matter. “We raided 22 locations simultaneously,” Chief Prosecutor Giorgi Gvarakidze said at a briefing in Tbilisi. According to him, the prosecutor’s office searched properties and offices associated with Garibashvili, former intelligence chief Grigol Liluashvili, former prosecutor general and businessman connected to Russia Otar Parcchaladze and eight other people.
Gvarakidze informed that large amounts of cash, documents and various electronic devices were seized. He did not provide more detailed information about criminal proceedings or possible arrests. Garibashvili (43), who headed the government for two terms, was considered the closest ally of the influential oligarch and head of the Georgian Dream, Bidzin Ivanishvili.
Grigol Liluashvili’s name was also mentioned in the Georgian media in connection with the claim that he acted as a “double agent”, maintaining contact with the opposition and informing the authorities at the same time. The Echo Kaukazu website added that the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobachidze, also expressed himself in this sense, but without mentioning his name.
Otar Parcchaladze served as Prosecutor General from November to December 2013. In 2023, the US imposed sanctions against him, citing “growing Russian influence in Georgia”. Although he reportedly lives in Moscow and maintains ties to the Russian political elite, he also remains in contact with the Georgian Dream government. After the imposition of sanctions, ex-president Salome Zurabishvili stripped him of his Georgian citizenship. In response, he changed his surname to Parcchaladze-Romanov. On May 9, 2025, he was among the guests at the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow. The United Kingdom and Lithuania also imposed sanctions on him.
The Georgian Dream party has been facing criticism from the opposition and the West for a long time for retreating from democracy, getting closer to Russia and blocking the process of Georgia’s accession to the European Union. which is also enshrined in the constitution. The party rejects these accusations.
