According to lawyer Dimitri Sadzaglishvili, they have information indicating that the judge who made today’s decision in Nika Gvaramia’s case has a criminal record.
As Sadzaglishvili told journalists, based on the information available to them, the judge in question was convicted of official negligence, allegedly about 19 years ago.
“As for the judge, according to our information, this judge has a criminal record for a work-related offense from years ago. As far as we know, the case involved official negligence and occurred approximately 19 years ago. Naturally, such a figure is ideal for the judicial ‘clan,’ because someone like this would have little to no ability to resist carrying out political instructions. He will be a blind and unquestioning executor of political decisions,” said Sadzaglishvili.
He further explained that Nika Gvaramia was first transferred to the Rustavi police department and will later be moved to prison.
“At this time, we don’t have any additional information. Likely, it will take some time to complete the paperwork at the station, and then he’ll be transferred to the prison,” he stated.
When asked why the system hadn’t arrested Gvaramia earlier, the lawyer responded:
“It’s impossible to analyze the actions and decisions of a regime.”
Regarding the court’s decision to detain Gvaramia, Sadzaglishvili said that this was not a real court, but a farce.
“Nika Gvaramia did not attend today’s ‘court hearing.’ I say ‘court hearing’ in quotation marks because this was not a real trial. It was a farce, a staged performance with assigned roles — someone in a robe playing the judge, someone else as the prosecutor, and us as the defense. Nika Gvaramia refused to participate in this farce. Naturally, we knew in advance what the so-called judge’s decision would be,” said Sadzaglishvili.
For context: Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change, was arrested. Law enforcement placed handcuffs on him near Rustavi’s No. 12 Penitentiary Facility, where the opposition politician arrived voluntarily. At today’s court session, the prosecution requested that Gvaramia’s bail (set at 30,000 GEL) be replaced with pretrial detention. The judge approved this request. Gvaramia did not appear in court.
Additionally, Gvaramia had been summoned to testify before the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Georgian Parliament, but he did not appear. As a result, he has been charged under Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which concerns “failure to comply with the request of the Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission.” The offense is punishable by a fine, up to one year of imprisonment, and/or deprivation of the right to hold public office or engage in professional activity for up to three years.
He had been given a 50-day deadline to pay the 30,000 GEL bail, which expired on June 7.
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