“They Are Leaving Me No Choice but to Fight” – Garibashvili’s New Letter From Prison

On August 18, former Georgian Dream leader and former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has issued another statement, which he announced yesterday.

Garibashvili says that the letter published yesterday was sent to him in July by one of Georgian Dream’s leaders, Mamuka Mdinaradze.

According to Garibashvili, the main aim of the “fight against corruption” campaign was to put him in prison and “politically destroy” him, and he says he did everything he could to avoid “entering into confrontation with the team and a person dear to me.”

The former prime minister says he is being “forced” to begin fighting.

Netgazeti publishes the letter in full:

“I want to tell the public the truth about why I am in prison. The main aim of the so-called ‘fight against corruption’ campaign launched last year was to put me in prison and politically destroy me.

I state with full responsibility that I did everything I could to avoid entering into confrontation with the team and with a person dear to me. It was precisely for this reason that I refused to fight the case and allowed myself to be carried along by the process, which was devastating for me, so as not to harm the interests of the state or the team, so as not to harm the interests of the state or the team..

Unfortunately, in return I received a staged, dirty provocation, a great deal of lies and injustice. Throughout this entire period, the public heard not a single word from me. I endured this tribulation with complete patience.

But unexpectedly for me, in July I received the letter I published yesterday, which was sent to me by Mamuka Mdinaradze. That same day, I made my position known to him, once again stated clearly that I had no intention of returning to politics, and offered my own view as a way of insuring against the aforementioned ‘risk.’ But in response, I was told that there still remained a 1% risk that I would return to politics, and that, to guard against this, it was necessary to bring corruption charges against me and for me to admit to them.

That was the red line that led me to take the most difficult step of my life. Therefore, they are leaving me no choice but to fight…”

The story will be updated.