“The defendant was left without legal representation in the courtroom due to the performance staged by his lawyers,” said Natia Tatiashvili, the prosecutor in the case of Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, following the conclusion of the court hearing.

According to her, the judge acted within the law, which allows proceedings to continue even in the absence of a defense attorney.

“The court made a fully lawful decision regarding the change of the preventive measure against Zurab Girchi Japaridze, as it found there were grounds for doing so.

When a defendant fails to fulfill their legal obligations, violates the law, and disregards a court ruling, that constitutes a legitimate basis for imposing stricter measures.

In this case, pre-trial detention was applied, and the court properly assessed the situation and imposed it.

What we saw from the lawyers was a performance intended to delay the process from the start —

they began with motions and then demonstratively walked out of the courtroom.

They intentionally left the defendant in this situation, even though they are lawyers and fully understood the possible consequences.

The court also correctly ruled not to appoint a public defender, since that too requires specific legal procedures.

Therefore, the process justly continued without legal representation, because defense was not mandatory in this instance,” the prosecutor stated.

For context, Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, a member of the Coalition for Change, had his previously imposed 20,000 GEL bail replaced with pre-trial detention. He was handcuffed inside the courtroom following the ruling.