Coalition for Change Leader Gvaramia says with Khoshtaria’s arrest ‘all four of us are now in prison’

Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Change, on Monday said the arrest of fellow leader Elene Khoshtaria meant that “all four” of the coalition’s leaders were now behind bars.

“Our remaining leader outside prison has also been arrested. Now all four of us are in jail. Elene is strong, the strongest! She will endure,” Gvaramia wrote on social media.

He argued that the ruling Georgian Dream party’s actions would ultimately backfire: “The worse they behave, the worse for them and the better for the country. Go on, keep exposing yourselves to the end, ‘anti-Georgian Dream.’ The oligarchy must fall.”

Khoshtaria, also a leader of Coalition for Change, was arrested earlier the day. The investigation against her is being conducted under Article 187 of the Criminal Code, which concerns damage to property. She is accused of defacing a campaign banner of incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze.