journalist Dito Chubinidze calls himself a political prisoner after release on bail

Journalist Dito Chubinidze of the Georgian newspaper Asaval-Dasavali has described himself as a political prisoner following his release from pre-trial detention on 4,000 lari ($1,480) bail.

“I am a political prisoner of the regime. I have not signed a plea agreement or anything else. I did not agree to bail either, but, as they say, they threw me out, literally,” Chubinidze said.

He said his release came as a surprise and denied that any plea agreement had been reached in his case.

“How can there be a plea agreement in a case of treason? Kobakhidze and his gang are the ones who have made a plea agreement with treason,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and his government.

Chubinidze had been arrested on charges of treason, specifically sabotage. His pre-trial detention was subsequently replaced with bail set at 4,000 lari.