Georgia: court will not consider appeal of head of opposition TV channel until October
Appeal process of Nika Gvaramia postponed
Based on the decision of the Court of Appeal of Georgia, the proceedings on the case of Nika Gvaramia, the director of the opposition TV channel Mtavari, who was convicted on the charge of embezzlement, will resume on October 4. According to the explanation of the defense, with a pause of so many months, the terms for case trial are violated – according to the procedural code, the court of appeal must make a decision within 2 months.
The panel of judges says that due to vacations and other cases, there is no other way out.
“Regarding the date of the next meeting. We have to take into account the fact that people go on vacations in August, and our composition is rather unstable, and in a certain period we cannot leave all at the same time, because due to newly discovered circumstances, the judges must be in court, so we divided the schedule. In fact, we already have September schedule full. Therefore, we propose October 4, 2:00 pm as the date for the next meeting. Unfortunately, there is no other solution. If everything here depended on one judge, it would be possible to maneuver, but this is not the case,” Judge Merab Jorbenadze said after the meeting.
On May 16, Nika Gvaramia, director general of the country’s most popular opposition television company, Mtavari, was arrested in the courtroom. The head of critical media was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for an episode in which he is accused of using a company car for family needs.
Independent experts, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and politicians consider Gvaramia’s arrest to be politically motivated.
The US Embassy is stern in its assessment of the process, “seeing the disturbing practice of selective investigation and criminal prosecution against those who are in opposition to the current government.”
Appeal process of Nika Gvaramia postponed
