Former Georgian PM publishes letter saying he committed no crime and went to prison because he did not want to “damage interests of state and team”

Former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday published a letter saying he did not commit a crime and went to prison because he did not want to harm the interests of the state and his political team.

“I want to tell society the truth about why I am in prison”, Garibashvili wrote, claiming that the anti-corruption campaign launched last year was primarily aimed at imprisoning and politically destroying him.

“I state with full responsibility that I did everything to avoid entering into confrontation with the team and a person dear to me. For this very reason, I refused to pursue a legal battle and went through the destructive process to the end so as not to damage the interests of the state and the team”, he said.

Garibashvili said he had instead faced what he described as a “staged, dirty provocation”, lies and injustice. He added that he had remained silent throughout the process and accepted the ordeal patiently.

According to Garibashvili, however, he unexpectedly received a letter in July, which he said was sent to him by Mamuka Mdinaradze and which he published the previous day.

“That same day, I conveyed my position to him and once again made it clear that I did not intend to return to politics. To insure against the aforementioned ‘risk’, I offered my vision. But they responded that there still remained a 1% risk that I would return to politics and that, for this reason, it was necessary to bring corruption charges against me and have me admit to them”, Garibashvili wrote.

He said this demand represented a “red line” and forced him to take “the most difficult step” of his life.

“Therefore, as I have no other way out, I am being forced to begin the fight”, Garibashvili concluded.