Georgian Parliament Speaker on Trump hush money trial: US justice system in this case, both in indictment and verdict, has been completely politically motivated

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday commented on the United States President-elect Donald Trump getting a no-penalty sentence in his hush money case by claiming that “in this case, the US justice system was completely politically motivated, both in the indictment and the verdict”.

In his remarks, Papuashvili recalled the case of Nika Gvaramia, the former head of the domestic Mtavari Arkhi channel and now the opposition leader, who was convicted in 2022 for improper commercial deals in 2015 and 2019 during his time at the helm of the Rustavi 2 channel.

“In the case of Gvaramia, when the American Ambassador demanded an explanation from the judge, unlike the American judiciary, the Georgian justice system acted without bias, which was [later] confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights”, the Speaker said.

When discussing the justice Juan Merchan's decision to sentence Trump to unconditional discharge, Papuashivili noted “it is a rare verdict and means that Trump will be found guilty of 34 counts of fraud ten days before his inauguration, but will not face any punishment”.

“No matter how you look at this case, one thing has been proven beyond doubt: the US justice system in this case, both in the indictment and the verdict, was completely politically motivated”, he continued.

He contrasted this case with Georgia’s judiciary, which he claimed had acted impartially in Gvaramia’s trial, as affirmed by the European Court of Human Rights.

“It’s difficult not to recall how the former United States Ambassador to Georgia demanded an explanation from a Georgian judge, later blocking the judge from the Embassy’s programs, due to a ruling unfavourable to the ambassador in Gvaramia’s case. For the record, Gvaramia appealed this verdict in the European Court of Human Rights, and the court didn’t even take it up for review, as it was evident - unlike in the United States - that the Georgian judiciary acted impartially”, the Speaker noted.