“The court decided that there had been calls for the overthrow of state authority, and at the same time, Levan Khabeishvili’s promises made toward representatives of various government bodies were assessed as sabotage. We will receive the verdict and evaluate it. This decision may be appealed,” prosecutor Beka Khunashvili told journalists after the guilty verdict delivered against Levan Khabeishvili and Murtaz Zodelava.

According to the prosecutor, the overthrow of state authority implies unconstitutional processes, and adding any adjective to it, even “peaceful,” does not change its unconstitutional nature.

“The court delivered a guilty verdict against Levan Khabeishvili as well as Murtaz Zodelava.

Our position was that Khabeishvili had committed the crime of promising a bribe, and we believed that a promise of bribery could be made through mass media, which in many cases is even more dangerous than a conspiratorial agreement between several individuals regarding bribery. In addition, we charged him with calling for the overthrow of state authority, and rightly so, because the overthrow of state authority in every case implies only unconstitutional processes and unlawful actions, and placing any adjective before it, even ‘peaceful,’ does not change its unconstitutional content. The court concluded that there had been calls for the overthrow of state authority, and at the same time, Levan Khabeishvili’s promises directed at representatives of various state bodies were assessed as sabotage. We will receive the verdict, evaluate it, and then decide whether or not to appeal,” Beka Khunashvili stated.

Regarding the three witnesses in the case and how the prosecution selected them, the prosecutor explained that if the question concerns the procedural aspect, the agency had requested that the Special Tasks Department assign employees.

“Even for those individuals themselves, it was completely unclear why and on what grounds they had been selected. I repeat, the sole purpose was to determine what kind of reaction Khabeishvili’s statements caused among employees from different levels and whether they perceived it as bribery. How do you imagine questioning every single employee of the Special Tasks Department? Specific individuals had to be selected,” Khunashvili said.

Asked how the prosecution believes it won the case, Beka Khunashvili replied that neither he nor the Prosecutor’s Office view cases in such a “competitive” manner.

“In the Prosecutor’s Office’s assessment, this was a promise of bribery. As for the court’s reasoning, we will receive the verdict and evaluate it. This is not the final instance; the decision may be appealed,” Khunashvili said.

The Chairman of the Political Council of the “United National Movement,” Levan Khabeishvili, and former Prosecutor General Murtaz Zodelava were found guilty by the court. The ruling was issued by Judge Irakli Khuskivadze. Khabeishvili was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison, while Zodelava received a 9-month sentence.