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Georgia's president declines to appear before prosecutors in election fraud investigation

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Georgia's president declines to appear before prosecutors in election fraud investigation
Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili attends an opposition rally to protest results of the parliamentary elections that showed a win for the ruling Georgian Dream party outside the parliament building in central Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 28, 2024. (Giorgi Arjevanidze / AFP via Getty Images)

Georgia’s Prosecutor's Office announced on Oct. 30 it had launched an investigation into alleged vote rigging in the recent parliamentary elections. President Salome Zourabichvili, who was summoned for questioning as part of the probe, has refused to appear at the Prosecutor's Office.

The Prosecution Service of Georgia announced on Oct. 30 it would carry out all necessary investigative and procedural steps to examine the issues highlighted by the Central Election Commission, the president, various political parties, and election observation groups.

In response to the allegations, the Election Commission said it would recount votes at several randomly selected polling stations.

During a press conference in Tbilisi, President Zourabichvili presented footage purportedly showing ballot violations. "It is not the President's responsibility to provide evidence that already exists within society," she said, adding that that non-governmental organizations, observers, and citizens have consistently provided substantial evidence, revealing extensive and systematic election rigging.

The investigation followed the opposition’s denunciation of the parliamentary elections as illegitimate. The ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory with 54% of the votes, despite protests from the pro-Western opposition, which described the election as a "constitutional coup."

President Zourabichvili also noted that her summons to the prosecutor’s office suspiciously coincided with recent remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, former President of Russia and current Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council. Medvedev had previously called for Zourabichvili’s "removal from office and arrest."

The European Union expressed concerns about "irregularities" observed during the voting process and suspended Georgia's EU accession process as of Oct. 30. U.S. President Joe Biden said he was "deeply alarmed" by democratic backsliding in the country.

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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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