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Civil rights groups name judges who are delivering ‘politicised justice’, urge end of pre-trial detentions

Today, a group of the human rights organisations, including the coalition My Vote, have highlighted the names of seven judges who are allegedly delivering ‘politicised justice’ to anti-government protesters implicated in criminal offences.

According to the groups, the named judges are Tamar Mchedlishvili, Irakli Khuskivadze, Lela Maridashvili, Davit Mgeliashvili, Nana Shamatava, Davit Kurtanidze, and Levan Kolbaia.

‘During the hearings, judges essentially repeated the prosecution’s arguments when delivering their oral justifications for the rulings’, the groups stated

Nino Lomjaria, the Chair of Georgia’s European Orbit group and a former Public Defender, reported that over 30 participants in recent anti-government protests have been arrested on criminal charges. She noted that Georgian courts imposed pre-trial detention on all of them, except for opposition leader Aleko Elisashvili and one minor, who were later released on bail.

In contrast, Lomjaria said that investigative agencies have not arrested any law enforcement officers despite their widely documented use of violence against protesters and involvement in inhumane treatment and ‘torture’ during detention. Civil rights groups have alleged that some detainees were pressured to provide false testimony to investigators, that searches and seizures were conducted in violation of procedural safeguards, and that the courts’ lack of independence prompted them to directly call on the Prosecutor’s Office to petition the court to revoke the pre-trial detention orders imposed on those facing criminal charges.

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