Ruling party official says opposition Lelo party leader Mamuka Khazaradze’s failure to appear at parliamentary inquiry “criminal offense”

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the failure of Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the opposition Lelo party, to comply with the request of the parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission constituted a criminal offense.

Mdinaradze’s comments followed Khazaradze’s refusal to attend the session of the parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission examining alleged crimes committed by the former United National Movement Government between 2003 and 2012, for which the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia on Tuesday formally charged him.

In his remarks over the matter, Mdinaradze noted that Khazaradze’s refusal to participate in the Commission’s session was an act of rejecting the authority of the state.

“Failure to comply with the Commission's request is a criminal offense. The Commission requested to attend [a session], Khazaradze did not attend it - a criminal case with a simpler qualification does not exist in nature”, the ruling party official said.

“Khazaradze's goal is to reject the authority of the state. What does it mean? He lives in this country, he is still called a politician in this country”, he concluded.

The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia on Tuesday formally charged Khazaradze with failure to comply with the lawful demand of the parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission.

Despite receiving the official summons signed by the Commission's Chair on March 22 and being aware of his legal obligation to appear before the Temporary Investigative Commission, Khazaradze failed to attend the session without a valid excuse.

He had also been warned about the legal consequences of non-compliance. His absence resulted in a failure to fulfill the Commission's lawful demand.