In Georgia, three "Georgian Dream" Party activists detained on charges of bribing voters

In Kutaisi, in Georgia, Grigol Ambrolauri, Mikhail Meskhi, and Mikhail Amashukeli, representatives of the political coalition "Georgian Dream" headed by businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, were detained. They are accused of bribing voters. This was reported by the press service of the Chief Prosecutor's Office of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.

According to the Control Chamber of Georgia, on June 5, the media disseminated information that activists of the "Georgian Dream" Party distributed among residents of Kutaisi together with election flyers the letterheads with promise to fulfil a desire of a voter on obtaining of material valuables. The Financial Monitoring Service of the Control Chamber considers that there are elements of Article 1641 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (bribing of voters). The institution appealed to the General Prosecutor's Office.

"Based on the testimonies given by that persons to investigators and testimonies of other witnesses, audio- and video information disseminated by the media, and operational records, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia considers that there are sufficient grounds to prosecute Grigol Ambrolauri, Mikhail Meskhi, and Mikhail Amashukeli on charges of bribing voters," states the message of the said the Georgian Prosecutor's Office.

At present, the "Caucasian Knot" has no comments of detainees or their representatives. Earlier, the "Georgian Dream" Party stated that the plot was a planned provocation.