Levan Bezhashvili: If you are putting the National Movement on trial but fail to summon Mikheil Saakashvili—thereby missing out on information from the primary source—it is clear that you have a problem with objectivity

If you are putting the National Movement on trial but fail to summon Mikheil Saakashvili—and thus do not hear relevant information from him as the primary source—it is clear that you have a problem with objectivity. This statement was made by Levan Bezhashvili, one of the leaders of the National Movement, as he discussed the constitutional lawsuit concerning the potential banning of five opposition parties.

As Bezhashvili noted, the Constitutional Court did not grant any of the opposition's motions, a situation which suggests that "the Constitutional Court has received a directive."

"We requested the questioning of witnesses. If you are putting the National Movement on trial but fail to summon Mikheil Saakashvili—and do not hear relevant information from him as the primary source—it is clear that you have a problem with objectivity. Furthermore, when you request the exclusion of the Tsulukiani Commission’s report—a document of a political nature—as evidence, and the plaintiff’s side relies solely on these political statements, the fact that this is not even taken into consideration calls the criterion of objectivity into serious question. Therefore, the reality is that the Constitutional Court is operating under a directive not to grant any motions filed by the opposition parties," stated Levan Bezhashvili.

For context, the Constitutional Court of Georgia has begun reviewing a constitutional claim filed by 88 members of Parliament. This claim seeks to have the following five opposition political parties banned and declared unconstitutional: "Unity – National Movement," "Coalition for Change (Gvaramia, Melia, Girchi, Droa)," "Strong Georgia (Lelo, For the People, For Freedom!)," the "Federalist Party," and "Gakharia – For Georgia."

The court hearing will resume on Monday.