The Detainees of the high-profile ‘Photographers’ Case’ to seek compensation for moral damages
By Inga Kakulia
Thursday, August 1
The four detainees were wrongfully arrested and were forced to confess to a fake crime of espionage. A re-investigation of the case was carried out in 2016, witnesses were questioned, and it was confirmed that in 2011, photo reporters were mistakenly arrested on a charge of espionage. Former Deputy Head of Counterintelligence Davit Devnozashvili has been convicted of abuse of power. Aleksandre Mukhadze, former director of Gldani Prison No. 8, was also sentenced to imprisonment.
Tbilisi Court of Appeals discarded the conviction on the espionage, the case was overturned, and the photo reporters were fully acquitted. The Court of Appeals upheld the 2011 City Court ruling, according to which photo reporters Irakli and Natia Gedenidze, Zurab Kurtsikidze and Gia Abdaladze were found guilty of espionage.
The Chief Prosecutor's Office requested the Court of Appeal to reverse the conviction of the photographers convicted seven years ago.
The Prosecutor’s Office said the three men were inhumanely treated in prison. Light in their cell would never turn off, and the room was being permanently watched by video. The photographers were under huge psychological pressure and various illegal activities conducted by prison staff and organized by then prison-chief Mukhadze. The Office said Devnozashvili illegally obtained a 'piquant' photo of Natela from her personal computer and threatened to release this picture of they didn’t plead guilty publicly. After this, the couple falsely confessed that they were guilty of espionage.
Now the photographers are working with their respective lawyers to create a precedent in the Georgian judiciary system of compensation for moral and professional damage inflicted on Gedenidzes, Kurtsikidze, and Abdaladze.
According to the lawyer, every state is obliged to fully adhere to international standards for victims of unlawful conviction and not to limit itself to only annulling the verdict. The lawyer Amiran Giguashvili also sees this step as an important factor in understanding and principle of government inheritance.
“Authorities are obliged to take responsibility for the mistakes and crimes of the previous government. Only with such approaches can true justice be established and developed.”
Giguashvili says that during the Georgian Dream government, the prosecutor’s office addressed the court itself and requested that the case be dismissed, which granted the former detainees with the constitutional right to seek compensation for the moral and financial loss.
According to him for his clients, it was one of the most important ways to restore justice for the photographers and recalls the “dirty campaign” against them that involved virtually the whole top rank of the former government. “These people were called spies, traitors of the country, agents of Russia. In reality, however, they were punished only for failing to fulfill their professional obligation and providing the local or international community with footage of the brutal crackdown on May 26th. At the same time, we should not forget that restoration of justice is not just the abolition of illegal verdicts and all international standards, in this case, provide for moral and material compensation for victims of illegal convictions.
One of the detainees previously commented on the plans to try and seek compensation from the government. In 2018, Natia Gedenidze told journalists that even though it is impossible in any way to quantify the tears shed. The damage is unbearable, there are probably some standards in place and the competent people will give the four photographers some instructions. “We will demand compensation for our moral damages from the state. After the verdict, we will consult, how and in what ways, what mechanisms are needed for it, ”- said Natia Gedenidze.
A lot of active politicians are closely watching the developments of the high-profile, “Photographer’s case.” Member of the parliament, Eka Beselia has publically been involved “ It was openly confirmed that this was a first-person assignment, for the photographers to be punished and thus cover the heavy background that preceded the arrest. It was the event after the May 26, but one of the bills was seen when the patriarch publicly called on the president to veto it. The high-profile case needed to cover the gravity of what was happening at that time. Spying on the label and spying on people was so easy. This case will be recorded in the history of justice, as an example of the abusive government in Georgia, " said Beselia.
If Irakli Gedenidze, Natia Gedenidze, Zurab Kurtsikidze, and Giorgi Abdaladze manage to get the compensation for the moral and financial damages, this will be one of the most distinguished cases in the history of Georgia.