Opposition leader Burchuladze’s son slams opposition figures over plea bargain requests

Shukri Burchuladze, the son of opera singer and October 4 case defendant Paata Burchuladze, has criticised Murtaz Zodelava and Lasha Beridze for seeking plea agreements in the case.

Burchuladze said the two had “laid down their arms” and accused them of abandoning those involved in the case.

“Leaders fighting the regime have disgracefully laid down their arms. Commanders should not leave soldiers on the battlefield,” Burchuladze wrote on social media on Tuesday.

He also suggested that the decision to seek plea agreements was intended to divert attention from a prison scandal, in which an inmate accuses prison staff of sexual assault. 

Zodelava and Beridze, who were each sentenced to seven years in prison by Tbilisi City Court in the October 4 case, formally applied to the Prosecutor’s Office for plea agreements on Monday. The Prosecutor’s Office said both had admitted guilt and expressed remorse. 

Zodelava, a member of the United National Movement, was convicted of offences including attempting to seize or blockade a strategically important facility, organising and leading group violence, and publicly calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order. Beridze was convicted of attempting to seize a strategically important facility and organising and leading group violence.