Behind bars: former Georgian premier Irakli Garibashvili
HandoutGeorgia's former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili was jailed for five years Monday on money laundering charges, the prosecutor's office said, the latest in a sweeping shake-up of the country's ruling party as critics accuse it of drifting into Moscow's orbit.Â
The mountainous Caucasus country bordering Russia has been mired in political crisis since October, when Georgian Dream claimed victory in parliamentary elections the opposition said had been stolen.
Garibashvili, who served two stints as a prime minister between 2021 and 2024 and 2013 and 2015, was a key figure in ushering in a crackdown on civil society and critics of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Prosecutors say they found and seized $6.5 million during a search in his apartment. Â
He admitted receiving illegal income for years after anti-corruption raids on homes and offices of several former officials in October, and struck a deal to cap his jail time.  Â
The prosecutor's office said it "signed a plea agreement with former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, under which he was sentenced to five years in prison."Â
He was accused of laundering income between 2019 and 2024.Â
Garibashvili was widely seen as one of the closest allies of powerful oligarch and Georgian Dream party chief Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Other high-ranking officials from the party have also been imprisoned in what the authorities describe as an anti-corruption crackdown. Â
Analysts say this may indicate infighting within Georgian Dream's leadership, some of whom have been hit by Western sanctions.
Authorities in the Black Sea nation have over recent years pursued a crackdown on the opposition, jailing prominent pro-EU figures.
The government has faced accusations of democratic backsliding, drifting towards Russia and derailing Georgia's EU-membership bid -- allegations it rejects.
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Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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