Georgia's Prosecutor's Office has raided the homes of former officials, including ex Prime Minister Irakli Garibashivl, signalling division within the ruling Georgia Dream party.
In a statement on Friday evening, the Prosecutor's office revealed that the search operation had taken place in 22 locations across the country, including in homes of former State Security Service (SSG) head Grigol Liluashvili, former Chief Prosecutor Otar Partskhaladze, and eight others associated with them. The Prosecutor's Office said the investigation was carried out by its own investigative division, as well as by the SSG’s anti-corruption and state security departments.The agency did not reveal the nature of the investigation, however stated that various documents, electronic devices and larges sums of money were seized during the search operation.
Garibashvili, Partskhaladze, Liluashvili were members of the Georgia Dream party and close allies of the party's founder, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. Garibashvili accompanied Ivanishvili into politics and in 2012 was appointed the Interior Minister in the first government formed by the Georgia Dream party. He took over Prime Minister role in 2021 and stepped down in 2024 after Ivanishvili's return to politics.
The former Soviet nation of 3.4 million has been grippled by political turmoil in the past few months as the ruling party has been cracking down on the opposition forces, arresting anti-government forces. However, the targeting of those associated with the ruling party is unprecedented. Friday's raids come on the heels of detention of several officials from Garibashvili's tenure. Last month, former Defence Minister Juansher Burchulazde was arrested on corruption related charges, preceded by the detention of two former deputy ministers in June.
Georgia has seen nationwide protests since last October when the ruling party claimed victory in the parliamentary election and started derailing the country's EU-accession bid.
