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SJC: Protracted Trial of Activists Shows Political Instrumentalization of Judiciary

On November 21, the Social Justice Center issued a statement on the protracted trial in the Tbilisi City Court of the cases of Saba Meparishvili and Omar Okribelashvili, who have been detained since May 14 and face 3-6 years in prison for damaging a GEL 400 (USD 146) iron barrier erected near the Parliament building during protests against the Foreign Agents Law in the spring 2024. The SJC believes that these cases demonstrate “the political instrumentalization of the judiciary” and “unjust exemplary punishment of political activists.”

Meparishvili and Okribelashvili are charged with violating Article 187, Part Two, Subsection “c” of the Criminal Code, relating to damage/destruction of an object committed as a group which was added to the Code last year, after the first initiation of the Foreign Agents’ law in the Parliament, and has been used against political activists “in an extremely problematic manner,” according to the SJC. “The expediency and justification of the [legal] amendments are neither stated in the explanatory note of the draft law nor made public,” the organization notes. A similar case was brought against Giorgi Shanidze, who was sentenced to 4 years in prison and was only spared by a Presidential pardon.

“With regard to the use of imprisonment as the most severe deterrent measure, numerous decisions of the European Court of Human Rights confirm that it should not be based on abstract objectives that jeopardize the administration of justice, but on concrete factual grounds. In this case, the defendants will not be able to influence the potential evidence that may exist in the case, and no other circumstance for the use of imprisonment is established. In the absence of such information, the use of imprisonment is unjustified and disproportionate to the gravity of the act allegedly committed,” explains the watchdog.

The organization stresses that the two defendants’ cases have been heard in court with two-month intervals between sessions, the last of which was held on September 23. The last two sessions were postponed due to the health problems of the judge, Natia Gudadze. The maximum two-month period prescribed by law for the review of pre-trial detention ends on November 23, and as the SJC believes, “the postponement of the court hearings serves to artificially delay the process, with the aim of making sure that the hearings will not end until there is a possibility of a presidential pardon” (the current president’s term ends in December 2024).

The watchdog stresses that these cases show “unfair criminal justice policies” and “disproportionately harsh sentences” on the one hand, and shed light on the politicization of the prosecutor general and the court on the other. “The regime is trying to maintain its legitimacy and solve the political crisis in society by using disproportionate and unfair criminal legislation,” the SJC said.

The organization also notes that “it is crucial that the Tbilisi City Court issues a final decision against Omar Okribelashvili and Saba Meparishvili in the optimal time, based only on credible and objective evidence.”

During the court session on November 22, Judge Natia Gudadze remanded the defendants in custody.

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