Georgian opposition figure arrested after testifying at Hague tribunal on 2008 war

Opposition arrests continue in Georgia

Opposition figure and former chair of the parliamentary committee on defence and security (2008–2012), Givi Targamadze, has been sentenced to seven months in prison and barred from holding public office for two years for failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission. The commission was set up to examine the actions of the Saakashvili administration between 2003 and 2012.

Givi Targamadze was a witness at The Hague tribunal in the case concerning the 2008 war. Russian President Vladimir Putin had called for his arrest as early as 2012.

At Russia’s request, Interpol issued a “red notice” for Targamadze in 2013 — a call for global law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally detain him pending extradition or similar legal action. However, Interpol later ruled that the notice violated its own statutes and removed Targamadze from the wanted list. Nevertheless, he remains wanted by Russia on charges of inciting unrest and organising terrorism.

In addition, Targamadze was sentenced in absentia by Belarusian authorities to 25 years in prison for his support of the Belarusian democratic opposition.

Targamadze was summoned to appear before the parliamentary investigative commission examining the actions of the Saakashvili government.

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According to the former MP, it is ironic that Georgian Dream and then-Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani — now head of the parliamentary commission investigating the Saakashvili government — claimed the Hague tribunal’s ruling on the 2008 war as their victory, when it was Targamadze himself who provided key testimony at the tribunal.

“I was a witness in the Hague tribunal’s case on the 2008 war. Based on my personal testimony, five arrest warrants were issued — for General Borisov, for then–prime minister and later interior minister of the so-called South Ossetia, Chochiev, who was Russian and personally oversaw a detention centre where many Georgian citizens were tortured, and also for the so-called ombudsman, who was part of the same system. I currently hold witness status at the Hague tribunal.

I never spoke about this before — I tried to maintain a certain decorum and preserve some relationships. But now that the Georgian Dream government has strayed so far from the civilised world, there’s no point in staying silent. The irony is that Tsulukiani, then Justice Minister, declared the Hague ruling a victory for herself and the Georgian Dream government — and then summoned me to her commission, where she shouted that I should be arrested,” Targamadze said.

When asked whether the Georgian Dream parliamentary commission would seek to challenge the Hague tribunal’s findings, Targamadze replied:

“We’ve seen the questioning of the former chief of general staff and the head of the peacekeeping forces — and we’ve seen the tone. It was a continuous attempt to blame the Georgian side. Yet both Strasbourg and The Hague conducted investigations and delivered rulings which found no fault with Georgia for any part of the war. Still, this parliamentary commission is trying to dispute that.”

Asked whether he feared for his safety after publicly stating he had testified in The Hague, the former MP responded:

“I understand that this might put me in greater danger — but that doesn’t matter. […] Putin once spent four minutes at a press conference talking about me. If he really wants me dead, he’ll kill me eventually. I’m alive by chance — what else would be protecting me? So, it is what it is. I took this step consciously.”

Georgia: Six opposition leaders jailed – what’s next?

How the arrests of opposition figures are perceived in the country and in the West

Реакция Запада на приговор Таргамадзе

Chair of the Estonian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson, reacted to the sentencing of Givi Targamadze on social media platform X:

“Russia is carrying out a massive offensive inside Georgia, with the support of a Georgian puppet government.”

On 24 June, the court found Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the Strategy Aghmashenebeli party, guilty of failing to appear before the parliamentary investigative commission examining the actions of the Saakashvili government from 2003 to 2012. He was sentenced to seven months in prison and banned from holding public office for two years.

On 23 June 2025, a court controlled by Georgian Dream sentenced three opposition leaders to prison: Mamuka Khazaradze (Lelo), Badri Japaridze (Strong Georgia), and Zurab Japaridze (Coalition for Change).

Nika Melia, Zurab Japaridze, and Nika Gvaramia (Coalition for Change), along with former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili, are already serving prison sentences for failing to appear before the same parliamentary commission.

U.S. State Department voices concern over arrests of opposition figures in Georgia

“Ivanishvili’s government is using legal amendments to target its critics”