David Georgievich Sakvarelidze ( ka, დავით საყვარელიძე; ; born 15 September 1981,

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

) is a

Ukrainia Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

n and former Georgian politician, prosecutor, and attorney.

Biography

He was Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Georgia from 2008 to 2012. He pursued a zero-tolerance policy for crime. In early June 2011, Sakvarelidze said he has requested the Tbilisi City Court issue an arrest warrant for Badri Bitsadze, who was accused of organizing attacks on policemen during anti-governmental protests in May 2011 and did not pay 100,000 Laris for bail. Sakvarelidze was an MP in the Parliament of Georgia, representing the opposition

United National Movement United National Movement (UNM; ka, ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, tr) also colloquially known as the Natsebi is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the p ...

party, between 2012 and 2015. On 16 February 2015, Sakvarelidze was appointed as Deputy

General Prosecutor of Ukraine The Prosecutor General of Ukraine (also ''Procurator General''; , ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (, or, before 2020, ). The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by th ...

. Sakvarelidze was also granted

Ukrainian citizenship Ukrainian nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of Ukraine. The primary law governing these requirements is the law "On Citizenship of Ukraine", which came into force on 1 March 2001. Any person born to at ...

. In office he accused colleagues of taking bribes to protect the freezing of assets of allegedly gained from

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. In March 2016, he was fired from the General Prosecutor office charged with a “gross violation of the rules of prosecutorial ethics”. Sakvarelidze is a key ally of

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

. Sakvarelidze created a new political party in autumn 2016 that claims Saakashvili as its “ideologist.” At the end of 2016, he joined Saakashvili's Movement of New Forces party.

Controversy

On 27 February 2022, during an interview with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, Sakvarelidze faced backlash on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

for his comments in regards to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Sakvarelidze stated that the war situation unfolding in Ukraine was "very emotional" for him because "European people with blue eyes and blonde hair" were being killed every day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakvarelidze, David 1981 births Living people Politicians from Tbilisi Ukrainian prosecutors Emigrants from Georgia (country) to Ukraine Naturalized citizens of Ukraine 21st-century Ukrainian politicians United National Movement (Georgia) politicians Movement of New Forces politicians Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence