The First Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction said it was "logical" to link Irakli Garibashvili’s [imprisoned former Prime Minister] letter to the corruption-related allegations against him, adding that he had sought to "artificially politicise" the issue.

His comments came after Prosecutor’s Office charged Irakli Garibashvili with accepting an especially large bribe as part of a group acting under a prior agreement.

"It is logical to link Mr. Garibashvili’s letter to these [corruption-related] allegations. He was trying to artificially politicise the issue, given that he knew about the specific charges. Logic dictates that he wanted to protect himself from all of this.

We have demonstrated through our actions that it makes no difference to us whether a person is a high-ranking official or not, or whether they are a member of our current team or a former member. We take the same approach toward everyone - we will not tolerate corruption from anyone", - said Levan Machavariani.