The arrest of Merab Beridze, who was the Rector of the Tbilisi State University’s branch in the southern Georgian town of Akhaltsikhe, triggered concerns from various human rights groups and sparked debates over the amount of pressure being put on the judicial system from the executive authorities.
Merab Beridze was arrested on February 16 and charged with misuse of power. Later, he was sentenced to three months pre-trial detention. His arrest triggered a protest of students in Akhaltsikhe, who claim that Beridze is innocent. Studies have been interrupted in Akhaltsikhe University since the arrest of Beridze. On February 22 a group of parliamentarians launched collection of signatures with the request to release Merab Beridze into their custody.
The prosecutor’s office claims that Beridze illegally opened a military department at the university and misappropriated funds, which were provided by the students themselves to set up this military department at the university.
But the influential human rights advocacy NGO Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), which decided to provide legal assistance to the ex-Rector, claims there is no evidence that supports these accusations. Representatives from GYLA claim that Beridze was acting in accordance of an order issued by Roin Metreveli, then the Rector of Tbilisi State University, while opening the military department in 2002.
“Our judges are not so incompetent as to rule so subjectively over a case which is surely fabricated. Hence, we should suppose that the judge ruled exactly as she was ordered to rule,” Tina Khidasheli of GYLA said at a news conference on February 21.
She also claims that a high-level governmental official is involved in this case, who directly “ordered” the judge to sentence Beridze to three-months of pre-trial custody. However, she did not reveal the name of this high-level official.
It is also unclear why that particular governmental official is allegedly interested in the arrest of Merab Beridze.
Meanwhile, a student organized protest rally is continuing in Akhaltsikhe. Some of these students were arrested by police on February 18, but later released on the same day after Georgian Ombudsman Sozar Subeliani became involved in the case. He slammed the law enforcers for arresting the students “for expressing their position.”
On February 22 the Georgian daily Rezonansi (Resonance) reported that the arrest of Merab Beridze was among those issues discussed during a meeting between President Saakashvili and the leading parliamentarians from the ruling National Movement party, which took place late on February 21.
This is the second high-profile incident wherein the authorities come under fire regarding alleged fabricated case. Last August, Revaz Okruashvili, editor of the local Gori newspaper “The People’s Newspaper,” was arrested on allegations of illegal possession of and selling narcotics. He was sentenced to three-months of pre-trial custody.
The arrest triggered protest from many human rights groups accusing then-Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili and the local officials in Gori, which is located in the Shida Kartli region, of fabricating the case against the editor. An earlier story published in the People’s Newspaper alleged that the region’s administration continued to participate in illegal trade and smuggling via South Ossetia – a secessionist Georgian region bordering Shida Kartli.
Editor of the newspaper Revaz Okruashvili was released shortly after various human rights groups mounted pressure against the government’s actions.
