Levan Ioseliani: While I am the Public Defender, the truth will not be hidden – This institution will not be driven by the whims of a few activists who introduced themselves through profanity and hate speech - Get used to it for the next four years
Public Defender Levan Ioseliani stated that the accusations against him, alleging he turns a blind eye to possible cases of torture, inhumane, degrading, or improper treatment by police towards protesters during ongoing demonstrations, are untrue.
In a Facebook post, Ioseliani shared links to statements he made during the protests to demonstrate that the allegations are baseless.
"Today, a small group of people held a protest in front of my office. Some of them are deliberately spreading false information, while others are likely misled. They accuse me of allegedly ignoring possible cases of torture, inhumane, degrading, or improper treatment by police towards protesters during the demonstrations.
To refute this, I am sharing just a portion of the statements I made during the protests. The full versions can be found in the attached links.
As for the issue of elections, let me clarify again: I cannot evaluate allegations of election fraud because I am not a monitoring organization. It is my right to trust the conclusions of the OSCE/ODIHR over local monitoring organizations. I do not believe the claim that 100,000 people had their IDs confiscated. If this were true, at least half of them would be at the protests. I have not seen evidence to substantiate this claim. Protest organizers have told me I have no right to say this, which is simply laughable. I suggest holding protests at the organizations that convinced you of these falsehoods.
Regarding violations of electoral rights, both during the pre-election period and on election day and afterwards, I documented and responded to every instance. We identified 110 potential criminal cases, and legal measures were taken in each. For this, I am also sharing the relevant statements with links.
Lastly, I do not owe anyone an explanation about which television platforms I appear on. I will go wherever I am invited, where people are interested in hearing my views. While I am the Public Defender, the truth will not be hidden. This institution will not be influenced by the whims of a few activists who primarily introduced themselves through profanity and hate speech. Get used to it—for the next four years.
**P.S.** Stop tagging and pressuring the staff of the Public Defender’s Office. You are not the most popular people here."
