A court in Tbilisi assigned bail to Nika Gvaramia in the “sabotage case”

Tbilisi City Court Judge Tamar Makharablidze has set bail of 30,000 lari (approximately $11,000) as a preventative measure for the leader of the opposition coalition "For Change" Nika Gvaramia in the "sabotage case." The politician himself stated that he did not understand what he was accused of.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, on February 12, 2026, the leader of the "Coalition for Change" Nika Gvaramia left the penitentiary institution in Rustavi, having served an eight-month sentence for failing to appear at a meeting of the temporary investigative commission of parliament studying the "crimes of the regime" of Mikheil Saakashvili in 2003-2012.

Today, Tbilisi City Court Judge Tamar Makharablidze set bail at 30,000 lari (approximately $11,000) in a closed hearing. According to the judge's decision, Nika Gvaramia was also prohibited from crossing the border without notifying the investigative body, and his passport was confiscated, Interpressnews reported today.

Answering journalists' questions, the politician himself said he did not know what he was accused of, Pirveli TV reports.

"All the leading political leaders are in the dock, and no one knows what we are accused of. We only know the article, we don't know what actions this was expressed in - we will again file a motion to open the hearing."

According to Gvaramia, it is impossible to defend himself, since he has not actually been charged with a specific charge.

"For example, I don't know what action I committed that, according to the prosecutor's office, violates the law. How can I answer? The person who is the judge in our trial told me six years before this ruling that "She faces 12 years in prison. She can't be neutral today. And you saw how she behaved at the hearing. What was unexpected for this court was that the judge removed people from the hearing. Of course, the public should know this," the politician said.

Nika Gvaramia noted that not a single Georgian politician has worked to impose sanctions against Georgia. "If imposing sanctions against Ivanishvili is tantamount to imposing sanctions against Georgia, then anyone who says so admits that Ivanishvili is running this country, which is unconstitutional," he said.

When asked whether he was being punished because of the sanctions against Ivanishvili, Gvaramia replied: "It appears so."

Protesters in Georgia have been demanding new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners since November 28, 2024. Security forces violently dispersed the protests, using tear gas and water cannons, and detained protesters. Over 1,000 people were subjected to administrative prosecution during the protests. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report, "Key Points to the Persecution of Protest Participants in Georgia."