Former PM, now leader of opposition party, faces possible charges over 2019 border standoff

TBILISI, DFWatch–In Georgia, prosecutors have reopened case about a 2019 border incident involving former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who is the leader of one of the few opposition parties planning to participate in this year’s local elections in October.

The investigation centers on events in the village of Chorchana, near the de facto boundary with Russian-occupied South Ossetia. At the time, Gakharia was Interior Minister and ordered a Georgian police outpost to be set up in disputed forest land. The move blocked a planned Russian-backed border expansion but also prompted retaliatory outposts from separatist forces, leading to a brief spike in tensions.

The Prosecutor’s Office is probing potential charges of sabotage and actions threatening Georgia’s constitutional order and national security. Former security chief Vakhtang Gomelauri testified on June 14, saying charges against Gakharia were possible. Analysts note the investigation’s timing coincides with the October elections, in which Gakharia’s party is one of the few opposition groups still planning to participate.

This has prompted come to view the probe as a political maneuver by the ruling Georgian Dream party to weaken the opposition ahead of the election.