Movement for United Georgia party activists held a rally outside the German embassy in Tbilisi on December 5, calling on the German authorities not to extradite ex-Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili to Georgia.

Okruashvili, who is charged by the Georgian General Prosecutor’s Office with large-scale bribery through extortion, money laundering and negligence while serving as minister, was arrested in Berlin upon the request of Georgian law enforcement agencies on November 27. Georgia must deliver full documentation on the case on or before January 6, based on which the German courts determine whether he is extradited or not.

“Irakli Okruashvili faces the threat of becoming a political prisoner in Georgia and his extradition to Georgia is unacceptable,” MP Koga Guntsadze of Movement for United Georgia, said. The party was set up by Okruashvili in late September.