Mikheil Saakashvili's Request for Release or Postponement of Sentence Denied, Judge Rules
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Tbilisi City Court judge Giorgi Arevadze did not satisfy the request for the postponement of the sentence or release of Mikheil Saakashvili. Lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze is planning to appeal to Strasbourg in the near future.
"I would like to remind you of the resolution part of the decision: the petition of Shalva Khachapuridze, the lawyer defending the interests of the convicted Mikheil Saakashvili, regarding the postponement of the sentence or exemption from the sentence due to the illness of Mikheil Saakashvili, should not be granted. The decision can be appealed within 10 days after the transfer in the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal", Giorgi Arevadze said.
The court proceedings on this case were ongoing for 2 months.
The Penitentiary Service tried to prove that the evidence of the defense side does not provide reliable information regarding the severity of the illness of the convict Mikheil Saakashvili and it cannot be used as a basis for the postponement of the sentence.
Abramishvili claimed at the trial that providing adequate medical services for all the diagnoses made to Saakashvili is perfectly possible under the conditions of his stay in the penitentiary system.
During the closing speech, the representative of the Special Penitentiary Service, Gela Nikolaishvili, said that "no one is being tortured, no one is being poisoned, no one is being killed and will not be killed."
Lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze responded to the Court's decision and claimed that judge Giorgi Arevadze is 'biased' and did not expect any other decision.
As he mentioned while talking to reporters after the decision was announced, the case will be sent to the European Court of Human Rights in the coming days.
"Of course, we were waiting for this decision. I could not even imagine that the pocket court would make a different decision. Unfortunately, in Georgia, a judicial system has been formed that serves this or that political ruling power. Tomorrow another power will come, they will serve them. This decision has nothing to do with justice. Moreover, the conclusion of Samkharauli was dictated by the judge.
We were refused to interrogate the Minister of Justice, the head of the medical department of the penitentiary, who was on the list for questioning, sat in the hall and gave the questions to someone else, and in the end he was also refused to be questioned. In the recent proceedings, it was clear that the judge was biased and protected the rights of the penitentiary service, but his decision will be put to a serious test in just a few days. Since the law is dead in Georgia, naturally we will turn to the European Court of Human Rights," said Khachapuridze.
