Georgian prosecutors launched criminal proceedings against eight leading opposition figures on Thursday, accusing them of advocating for regime change and aiding foreign powers.
Those charged include former President Mikheil Saakashvili and seven other key figures representing Georgia’s three main opposition blocs. Six of the individuals, including Saakashvili, are currently in jail.
The move comes amid growing concerns in the European Union, which Tbilisi aspires to join, and among rights groups about the ruling Georgian Dream party’s crackdown on dissent and abandonment of the pro-Western path it has mostly followed since winning independence from Moscow in 1991.