The decision to sanction me has been made by a politician from one of the countries - political decisions from other countries cannot influence the Georgian judiciary, - this was the response of Judge Lela Tsagareishvili to lawyer Elguja Avsajanashvili, who requested her recusal during a hearing, citing as one of the reasons that Lela Tsagareishvili is on the list of sanctioned judges.

The respective motion was made by the lawyer during the trial of Revaz Kiknadze, who was arrested during a protest on November 25, where the Ministry of Internal Affairs claims he participated in group violence, demanding the appointment of new elections.

The lawyer requested the recusal of Judge Lela Tsagareishvili for two reasons: first, the judge is sanctioned, and second, the case materials were not provided to the defense in a timely manner.

Judge Lela Tsagareishvili granted her own recusal motion. As she explained to the lawyer during the session, her right to defense and access to materials had not been restricted. Regarding the issue of judges being sanctioned, including herself, Tsagareishvili responded to the lawyer as follows:

"In this case, the issue of sanctioning, specifically my sanctioning as a judge, is a political decision made by a politician from one of the countries. Therefore, political decisions from another country cannot influence the Georgian judiciary or legal decisions made in Georgia. Consequently, your request is unfounded on this basis as well," said Judge Lela Tsagareishvili.