Irakli Okruashvili, a former defense minister under the United National Movement government, was sentenced to 8 months in prison for refusing to appear before the parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission.

Tbilisi City Court Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili announced the ruling.

He also had his right to hold public office stripped for two years.

Okruashvili was sent to pretrial detention in May after he refused to pay court-imposed bail for defying the commission summons.

While in detention, new charges were filed against Okruashvili under Article 151 of the Georgian Criminal Code ["a threat of killing, damaging health, or destroying property"] that induces a reasonable fear of harm.