The Tbilisi Court of Appeal upheld the decision of a lower court that acquitted Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili in the case of violence against ex-wife Nelli Dorokashvili.
The prosecution intends to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
On October 21, 2022, the Tbilisi City Court found not guilty the most famous tennis player in Georgia, Nikoloz Basilashvili, who was one of the top 100 in the rating of the Association of Tennis Professionals. Judge Khatuna Kharchilava announced the decision. Nikoloz Basilashvili’s ex-wife Nelli Dorokashvili accused him of physical, psychological and economic abuse.
Last year, the athlete paid a bail of 100,000 lari [about $35,000] and was released from the pre-trial detention center after three days of detention.
The investigation was conducted under article 126 of the Criminal Code, part two, paragraph “B”, which refers to domestic violence in the presence of a minor, the crime is punishable by community service for a period of two hundred to four hundred hours or imprisonment for a period of one to three years.
A year ago, in an interview with the media, Dorokashvili said that after marriage she quit her modeling career and devoted herself entirely to her family. She explained that she did this for her husband’s career.
Now Dorokashvili says that her ex-husband systematically insulted her.
Dorokashvili’s lawyer Ana Tavkhelidze told reporters the same thing. According to her, her client was constantly abused by her ex-husband, and this was not an isolated case. According to Tavkhelidze, the violence took place in different forms and in different places.
Dorokashvili testified against Basilashvili in court. At one of the meetings, video evidence was presented, where, according to Dorokashvili, Basilashvili hit her with a bag of tennis balls.
The tennis player attended court hearings remotely. On October 5, he came to court in person and stated that he did not consider himself guilty. On October 20, during the trial, at a closed session, the defense and defendant Basilashvili delivered their closing speeches.
