The signatory organizations respond with concern to the criminal prosecution of the former Mayor of Tbilisi, Gigi Ugulava, and the decisions of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia and the Tbilisi City Court which give rise to well-founded doubts that they were politically motivated. We call on the Georgian government to abandon using the bodies exercising justice for the purposes of political reprisals.
With the ruling of March 14, 2015, the Tbilisi City Court, on the basis of a motion of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, decided to impose pretrial detention on Giorgi Ugulava. This happened at a time when the maximum 9-month-long measure of restraint for one of the cases launched against Ugulava was about to expire at the beginning of April. When imposing the new measure of restraint, the Court relied on the criminal case against Ugulava in which he has been charged since July 28, 2014. The fact that the motion was put forward by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office and granted by the Court is a precedent of abusing the justice system, and this decision has further strengthened the perception in a part of the public that leaving Giorgi Ugulava under imprisonment is an end in itself for the government.
The number of cases against Gigi Ugulava, as well as the chronology of bringing charges in connection with concrete cases and making demands for imposing measures of restraint, gives rise to serious doubts that imprisoning the defendant and, later, ensuring his long-term incarceration has become an end in itself for the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia. Despite the fact that Ugulava has been criminally indicted for up to ten alleged criminal episodes since 2013, the Court has not delivered a final decision on any of the cases.
It should be noted that the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on “abuse of pretrial detention”, Pedro Argamunt, in his summarizing statement made at the end of his visit to Georgia in February 2015, called on the Georgian government not to use pretrial detention to “settle political scores”. Pedro Argamunt notes that he was surprised to learn that a large number of representatives of the previous government, who are currently in opposition, have been kept in detention, and some of them are in deep isolation.”
The government should also take note of the concern expressed by the US Embassy to Georgia in connection with the repeated imposition of pretrial detention on Gigi Ugulava. As noted in the statement of the Embassy, “We are concerned by the announcement of additional or re-qualified charges being filed against members of the former government. These additional charges, against former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava in particular, appear to be an effort to subvert the nine-month limit on pre-trial detention.” The Embassy also calls on the Georgian government to take steps to strengthen the Rule of Law and avoid any perception that it may be engaging in a campaign of politically motivated justice.
Georgian Democracy Initiative
Media Development Foundation
Identoba
Georgia’s Reforms Associates
Tolerance and Diversity Institute
Article 42 of the Constitution
