Worries are mounting that more Georgian opposition leaders may be sent - or rather returned - to prison for years amid intensifying court hearings in the so-called "sabotage" case.

Prosecutors charged the leaders in November, accusing eight political leaders of "crimes committed against the state" as part of a probe launched following a complaint by United Neutral Georgia, an anti-EU group believed to be aligned with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party.

The group's leaders are also among the key witnesses in the case.

Three of those charged in the case - ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, Droa leader Elene Khoshtaria, and Ahali/Coalition for Change leader Nika Melia are already behind bars after being convicted in different cases.

Three more - Zurab Japaridze (Girchi - More Freedom), Nika Gvaramia (Ahali), and Giorgi Vashadze (Strategy Agmashenebeli) - anticipate new prison verdicts after serving months for boycotting the Georgian Dream parliamentary commission ("Tsulukiani Commission").

Two leaders of the Lelo/Strong Georgia alliance - Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze - who were similarly sentenced for boycotting the Tsulukiani Commission, but were released early through a pardon by GD-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili -- also face years in jail if convicted again.

"We know that we are being returned to prison.

Every coalition leader [who passed the threshold] in the 2024 elections will be either in prison or abroad by the end of the month, or at the latest by the end of August," Zurab Japaridze told Formula TV channel on July 12.

Concerns over looming jail verdicts intensified after, in June, the court increased the frequency of the hearings from once a month to at least twice a week.

Zurab Japaridze, Giorgi Vashadze, and Elene Khoshtaria face between seven and 15 years in prison on various sabotage-related charges, while the other leaders also face multi-year prison terms, though shorter ones.

Prosecutors have alleged that opposition leaders, acting in various groupings, engaged in “active actions to radicalize the street process” after the 2024 elections, shared information with foreign country representatives to create “artificial grounds” for sanctions, made calls that led to “violent confrontations” during protests, and mobilized funds for “violent groups.” Repression in Times of 'Reset'? It remains unclear why the court, believed to be loyal to the ruling party, decided to expedite the process.

The process appears particularly at odds with the Georgian ruling party's declared efforts to reset relations with Washington.

The erstwhile close ally, the U.S., suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia under Joe Biden's administration in late 2024 and sanctioned GD founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, with the Donald Trump administration yet to reverse those decisions.

However, citing ideological alignment with Trump, GD has sought to "reboot" relations with Washington, and exchanges and cooperation efforts between officials of the two countries have intensified in recent months.

While issues like connectivity, security, and migration have dominated the bilateral agenda since, the U.S.

State Department delegation also brought up domestic politics during its May visit.

Namely, the delegation stressed with GD the need for “a stable domestic political climate that facilitates opposition engagement,” among others, for a sustainable strategic partnership between the two countries.

Those efforts, however, have come amid parallel actions in the U.S.

Congress, among others, pushed by Georgian Dream-critical Rep.

One of the latest moves came on June 8, when the U.S.

House of Representatives passed a bill requiring a report on Russian and Chinese influence and intelligence assets in Georgia, as well as a 5-year strategy on bilateral relations with Georgia.

17/07/2026 - Botchorishvili Addresses Rubio-Hosted Ministerial on ‘Far-Left Political Terrorism’ Zurab Japaridze has been among those who have suggested that the intensifying "sabotage" hearings are "probably a signal to the West: either 'you will settle with us on our terms, or we will force the people you talk to out of the country or put them in prison.'" Alternatively, "they are also clearing the political field," the politician told reporters on July 9.

The officials have also implied that one reason for targeting the political leaders is the opposition's declared goal to draw foreign pressure to contain Georgian Dream's repressive policies.

In a July 10 social media post, Nika Gvaramia, leader of Ahali/Coalition for Change and one of the defendants in the sabotage case, wrote that the opposition strategy is "Rallies inside, sanctions outside, alternative." The post, which came amid a separate debate about opposition tactics, pointed to the efforts to secure foreign pressure on Georgian Dream through continued protests while presenting the public with a political alternative, should Georgian Dream be pushed out of power.

One effort to create such an alternative was forming the Opposition Alliance, a coalition of nine parties that counts Ahali among its members, in March.

Responding to Gvaramia's statement about the strategy, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that "the case has been launched precisely in connection with this approach," describing it as "treason" and noting that the strategy "constitutes a treacherous approach, which, in a broader sense, is a criminal approach." Similarly, United Neutral Georgia leader Vato Shakarashvili told reporters on the day of his court testimony that the opposition "is committing a continuous crime" when they promote the "sanction outside, rally inside" strategy.

'You Can't Plan Anything' "You cannot plan anything ...

you face a fence after which it is hard to plan anything, you have some ideas, you want to do something, but cannot go beyond it," Zura Japaridze told Formula TV in July, pointing to the distracting pressure of the ongoing criminal probe.

The "sabotage case" and other criminal....