Tina Bokuchava, the chairperson of Georgia’s opposition party “United National Movement,” has denied receiving any phone or money from President Mikheil Saakashvili. She made this statement in response to an accusation that she had received a large sum of money for a mobile phone.
Bokuchava said that this was a baseless and false claim, which should be investigated by an independent court. “I am ready to take any oath, whether it’s under the Constitution, civil procedure, or religious oath before the Bible,” she said, “that I have never received any phone from any president of Georgia, including the third president.”
The accusation was made as part of a trial in which Saakashvili and another former official were sentenced to prison for embezzling large amounts of budget funds. Bokuchava dismissed the sentence, saying it would not scare anyone.
She also commented on the prosecution’s decision, saying that 11 years of investigation had found no evidence of wrongdoing by Saakashvili. Instead, she said, the prosecution had declared that certain expenses were “inappropriate” – a term she noted was applied only to spending by her party’s opponents.
The prosecution had accused Saakashvili and Teimuraz Janashvili of embezzling over 9 million GEL over three years. The accusation included the purchase of an iPhone mobile phone for Bokuchava, which she denies receiving.
Bokuchava vowed to demand answers from those responsible for the accusation once Georgia has an independent court.