The Royal Opera House in London has urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intervene in the case of Paata Burchuladze, a world-renowned bass singer who has been imprisoned in Georgia since October on charges of leading a coup against the country's authoritarian leadership.
The 71-year-old performer, who has graced stages at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, collaborated with legends such as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras. He was arrested after participating in a protest outside the presidential palace in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. Last week, a court sentenced him to seven years in prison, a term Burchuladze argued is effectively a life sentence given his advanced age.
Burchuladze became a prominent figure at nightly demonstrations against the government's perceived shift away from Western alliances last autumn. He frequently sang to protesters from the back of a flatbed truck in freezing temperatures, and on 4 October, he read a declaration proclaiming "power returns to the people" and denouncing the government as "illegitimate." Subsequently, he was detained along with nine others accused of organizing violence against the ruling regime, which is effectively led by Georgia's richest man, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Ivanishvili chairs the ruling party, Georgian Dream, and was sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for undermining Georgia's democracy in favor of Vladimir Putin and Russia.
In a letter to the British prime minister, Peter Katona, the Royal Opera's director of casting, asserted that Burchuladze is "being punished as a warning to others who dare oppose the regime." Katona wrote: "I am writing to draw your urgent attention to the situation of the world-renowned Georgian opera singer and our dear friend Paata Burchuladze, who is currently held in pre-trial detention and is under criminal investigation by the pro-Russian, authoritarian regime in Georgia. The charges brought against Mr. Burchuladze are entirely fabricated and unlawful. He is being persecuted solely because of his critical stance toward the ruling regime."
Katona highlighted Burchuladze's distinguished career at the Royal Opera House, where he performed many times since his debut in 1984. "We are also considering inviting him again, also in the future, in more senior roles," he added.
"Unfortunately, Paata Burchuladze is now among more than 100 political prisoners in Georgia. During recent peaceful demonstrations, more than 500 people were arrested, and more than 300 reported torture and ill-treatment. Your attention and solidarity would mean a great deal to the people of Georgia, who are striving to preserve freedom, human rights, and their democratic future," Katona concluded.
It is understood that the Royal Ballet and Opera has not yet received a response from Downing Street. The Foreign Office has stated it is monitoring developments closely and will "raise, where appropriate, the importance of safeguarding detainees' rights, including access to legal representation and family communication."
Burchuladze, born in Tbilisi, has been a high-profile pro-democracy campaigner in Georgia for over a decade and formed a short-lived political party in 2016. He has also served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and UNICEF. In a statement made shortly before his sentencing, Burchuladze said: "I am convinced that recognisable figures such as myself, however comfortable our circumstances, must stand at the forefront and set an example in the fight to defend our homeland." During a previous court appearance, he warned that the Georgian government was building an "iron fence" between Georgia and the West.
The appeal by Britain's Royal Opera has been echoed by Christina Scheppelmann, the general artistic director at Belgium's national opera, La Monnaie, in Brussels. In a letter to the Belgian prime minister, Scheppelmann wrote: "It is evident that Mr. Burchuladze cannot receive a fair trial. Like other political detainees, his fundamental rights are being violated, and he is being punished as a warning to others who dare oppose the regime."
Burchuladze is among 114 people in Georgia who have either been sentenced to jail or are being held in detention related to protests. The European Union has suspended negotiations over Georgia's accession to the bloc as a result of the regime's democratic backsliding. Eka Gigauri, from the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, commented: "These cases illustrate a clear pattern of punishment aimed at silencing those who oppose the ruling party's pro-Russian policies and who peacefully defend Georgia's democratic future in the face of increasing authoritarianism."
