Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said that the recent critical statement of the US Embassy to Georgia over the imprisonment of Nika Gvaramia, the head of the opposition-minded Mtavari channel, was a “direct interference” in the Georgian judiciary. 

He stated that “our partners should be equally careful about the rule of law, the independence of the courts both in their own country and in other countries”.  

“This is the only assessment I can make. We take a different approach to the independence of the court and the rule of law," he said.

The Embassy on Wednesday stated that the “continued imprisonment” of Gvaramia, put at risk “the clear choice of the people of Georgia – and Georgian leaders’ stated goal – for a more secure, democratic European future”. 

The  comment came on the heels of the ruling of Tbilisi court of appeals, which earlier the same day upheld the previous verdict of Tbilisi city court and left the former United National Movement official in custody for abuse of power for his managerial decisions while running the Rustavi 2 TV channel in 2015 and 2019.