The leaders of "Lelo – Strong Georgia," Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, have been detained.

Law enforcement officers handcuffed Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze at the office of "Lelo – Strong Georgia."

During the detention, chants were heard: "Fire to the oligarchy," "Police everywhere, justice nowhere," and "Slaves."

Supporters of the leaders, politicians, and Georgia’s fifth President, Salome Zourabichvili, are gathered at the scene.

Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the opposition Lelo party, was sentenced on June 23 to eight months in prison for refusing to appear before the Georgian Dream parliamentary investigative commission tasked with probing alleged crimes by the former UNM government and other officials. He was also barred from holding public office for two years.

As for Badri Japaridze, the leader of "Lelo – Strong Georgia" was sentenced on June 23 to eight months in prison for refusing to appear before the Georgian Dream parliamentary investigative commission tasked with probing alleged crimes by the former UNM government and other officials. He was also barred from holding public office for two years..

Earlier in the day, another opposition leader, Zurab Japaridze of Girchi-More Freedom, who had already been in pretrial detention after refusing to pay court-imposed bail in the same case, was sentenced to seven months in prison and likewise stripped of his right to hold office for two years. Unlike Japaridze, Khazaradze had posted a GEL 50,000 (about USD 18,300) bail as a pretrial restraint, allowing him to remain free until the final verdict.

Several other individuals and opposition politicians await final rulings in similar cases, anticipating the same prison verdicts. Among them are Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia of the Ahali party, who, like Japaridze, remain in pretrial detention after refusing to post bail. Others includes Strategy Aghmashenebeli’s Giorgi Vashadze, who are currently free on bail. Former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili also remains behind bars after rejecting bail.