"This case will definitely go to Strasbourg. There is no evidence in the case against anyone. Because there is no evidence, they have police officers who are being put in a terrible position. These people deserve sympathy, yet they are acting dishonestly," said Zurab Japaridze, one of the leaders of the "Coalition for Change" and a defendant in the so-called sabotage case.

According to him, the police officers appearing as witnesses did not write reports regarding any crime, and they only remembered the alleged offenses "after the Prosecutor's Office summoned them."

"The proceedings will end soon. Based on what we are seeing, the process will be completed by the end of this month or by mid-August.

This case will definitely go to Strasbourg. There is no evidence in the case against anyone. Because there is no evidence, they have police officers who are being put in a miserable situation. These people deserve sympathy, yet they are committing an act of dishonesty. They do not take a religious oath; they think that if they do not make a religious oath, God will forgive them. They take a civil oath and then lie and tell stories. The witnesses do not remember anything and cannot or will not say anything specific, because otherwise we would be able to catch them lying. If they said something, we would bring out the recordings.

Not a single police officer has filed a report regarding the alleged crime, and none of them said that they witnessed a crime. They only remembered it after the Prosecutor's Office summoned and selected them. Everything has been fabricated," Japaridze said.

For reference, charges in the so-called sabotage case have been brought against Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze.

More specifically, Giorgi Vashadze and Zurab Girchi Japaridze have been charged under Articles 318(1) and 319 of Georgia's Criminal Code, which concern sabotage and assisting a foreign state in hostile activities. The offenses carry a prison sentence of 7 to 15 years.

Elene Khoshtaria has been charged under Articles 318(1), 319, and 321¹(1) of the Criminal Code, which concern sabotage, providing material resources for such an offense, and assisting a foreign state in hostile activities.

Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze have been charged under Article 318(1), which concerns sabotage.

Mikheil Saakashvili has been charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code, which concerns calling for the violent change of Georgia's constitutional order or the overthrow of state authority.