EGI Political Digest 49

The fourth Georgian fighter was killed in Ukraine

Three Georgian volunteers were killed on March 21 during a full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine.

Gia Beriashvili and Davit Ratiani were killed on March 18, northwest of Kyiv, on the Irpin front, while defending the Ukrainian capital from the Russian invasion.  

On March 19 citizens paid their respect to the memory of Beriashvili and Ratiani in front of the parliament in Tbilisi and in Batumi and Zugdidi as well.

Until now, it is not possible to transfer the body of another killed Georgian fighter – Bakhva Chikobava, who died in Mariupol. The city is under siege of the Russian occupiers. 

On March 26, fourth Georgian soldier, Davit Gobejishvili, was killed near the Ukrainian city of Irpen.

Salome Zurabishvili to Ukrainians – “We are with you”

“We, the Georgians, support you, we are with you in the fight against Russian aggression,” President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili told the Ukrainian people on March 24 in a video address a month after Russia launched their military invasion in Ukraine.

“We know how bravely you have resisted during this month, to be more precise 29 days, and this is already the 29 victories you have achieved in the war against Russia,” she said.

According to Zurabishvili, Ukraine’s resistance showed that “what everyone thought was a superpower turned out not to be strong enough to defeat Ukraine as quickly as it wanted.”

President Zourabishvili wished the Ukrainians success and victory, saying: “As your friends, we know that you are fighting for your own freedom and independence, as well as for our freedom, our independence and our common European path.”

ECHR Accepts Saakashvili Cases for Review

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in a sitting on March 1, decided to declare jailed ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili’s two complaints lodged against the Georgian government admissible for review.

Saakashvili appealed to the court on January 27, 2020, arguing that his conviction by the Tbilisi City Court on June 28, 2018, for his alleged role in the physical assault of former MP Valeri Gelashvili “was based on untested hearsay evidence.” He argued the decision violated Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In a separate application on May 25, 2020, he argued that the guilty verdict on January 5, 2018, over the presidential pardoning of convicts in Sandro Girgvliani’s high-profile murder case was also based on “unverified evidence” and violated Article 6 (1/3d), as well as Article 7 (no punishment without law).

Saakashvili further maintained that the first-instance court judge on the pardoning case had lacked independence and impartiality. He also insisted it had not been possible for him to foresee that the pardoning — right conferred on him under the office of President and Head of State — could attract criminal liability.

In both cases, Saakashvili claimed “the authorities” hidden agenda was to use the criminal-law machinery against him for political persecution, in violation of Article 18 of the Convention — limitation on the use of restrictions on rights — in conjunction with Articles 6 and 7.