{"id":1939,"date":"2017-11-21T00:48:45","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T00:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rcstaging.co.uk\/ehrac\/?p=1939"},"modified":"2021-04-08T22:42:45","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T21:42:45","slug":"georgias-detention-prosecution-former-pm-politically-motivated","status":"publish","type":[30],"link":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/georgias-detention-prosecution-former-pm-politically-motivated\/","title":{"rendered":"European Court to rule whether Georgia\u2019s detention and prosecution of former Prime Minister was politically motivated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t
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Ivane Merabishvili appears during a preliminary hearing of his case. (Reuters)<\/p><\/div>\n

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On 28 November, the Grand Chamber of European Court of Human Rights will deliver its judgment on whether political motivations were behind former Prime Minister and Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili\u2019s prosecution and pre-trial detention, if it was lawful and if it was misused to exert pressure on him. He is represented by\u00a0EHRAC\u00a0<\/a>(Middlesex University<\/a>, London) and Otar Kakhidze (Georgia).<\/p>\n

Why is this important?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the Georgian Dream coalition\u2019s victory in the 2012 parliamentary elections, almost the entire leadership of the former ruling party (the United National Movement) were arrested and\/or charged with a range of offences, including the former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the\u00a0former Mayor of Tbilisi, Giorgi Ugulava<\/a>. The European Court very rarely establishes breaches relating to political motivation, and its initial ruling on this case was the first ever such finding against Georgia. This was challenged by the Government. A second finding by the Grand Chamber, the highest body in the Court, that Mr Merabishvili\u2019s detention was politically motivated will send a strong message to Georgia and its neighbours where opposition activists and politicians are regularly arrested on falsified charges, that such practices are an affront to democracy.<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Merabishvili was arrested and detained in May 2013. In December 2013, he was taken from his Tbilisi prison cell in the middle of the night, and, with his head covered, was driven to an unknown destination where he was questioned by the Chief Public Prosecutor and the head of the Georgian prison service. They offered Mr Merabishvili a \u2018deal\u2019: to provide information about Mr. Saakashvili and about the death of former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania in exchange for a guarantee that he would be released and allowed to leave the country with his family. He refused to comply and was threatened with worsening prison conditions. He was convicted and sentenced to five years\u2019 imprisonment shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Grand Chamber\u2019s ruling will establish that political prosecutions are simply unacceptable in a democratic state and breach international human rights standards. The Court\u2019s findings will have implications across Europe in other states \u2013 including Azerbaijan and Russia, where political motivations lie behind the detention and prosecution of significant critical voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Philip Leach, EHRAC Director<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Find out more<\/strong><\/p>\n

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EHRAC lawyers Philip Leach and Joanne Sawyer at the Grand Chamber hearing, March 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the second\u00a0European Court ruling<\/a>\u00a0on this case \u2013 Mr Merabishvili won his first case: you read about the original\u00a0precedent-setting decision<\/a>, and\u00a0its impact<\/a>, in some of our earlier pieces about the case.<\/p>\n

How did the Georgian Government justify its actions? You can watch the\u00a0European Court Grand Chamber hearing<\/a>\u00a0(March 2017) and\u00a0read about what we argued<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more on the context, the Georgian Democracy Initiative has published a report entitled\u00a0\u2018Politically biased justice in Georgia\u2019<\/a>, including\u00a0detailed analysis of Mr Merabishvili\u2019s case<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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