Activist Lazare Grigoriadis case delayed and investigated unfairly - Georgian NGOs
Lazar Grigoriadis case in Georgia
Twenty-four non-governmental organizations operating in Georgia have jointly issued a statement regarding Lazare Grigoriadis’ case. Grigoriadis was arrested for his actions against the police during the large-scale protests in Tbilisi against the ‘Foreign Agents Law’. The statement specifically highlights the unjustified delays in court proceedings related to the case.
Lazare Grigoriadis, aged 21, was arrested on March 29, 2023. According to the prosecution, Grigoriadis threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at police officers during rallies on March 7-9 as part of protests against the so-called “Russian law”. He is currently the only person arrested during the protests against the “Foreign Agents Law”.
The final court hearing for Lazare Grigoriadis’ case will take place on April 8 at 14:30.
Initially scheduled for February 26, it was postponed due to the judge going on vacation.
Later, the final hearing was set for March 28, but the judge did not allow Grigoriadis to participate online and postponed the dates again, this time to April 8.
In a letter sent to the “Formula” TV channel, Lazare Grigoriadis stated that he expects a guilty verdict in his case.
What is written in the NGO statement?
The non-governmental organizations also criticized the judge’s decision not to allow the defendant to participate remotely, which led to the postponement of the hearing.
NGOs stated that judge Zviad Sharadze violated the requirements of the criminal procedural code, as under the law, the accused has the right to participate in court proceedings remotely.
“The violation of Lazare Grigoriadis’s procedural rights will become even more serious if the judge fulfills his promise and considers the request to attend the next court hearing remotely as Lazare Grigoriadis’s absence, which will lead to the holding of the hearing in the defendant’s absence. This is a direct violation of the rights provided for in paragraph 3 of Article 31 of the Constitution of Georgia and paragraphs 1 and 3(c) of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights,” the statement by non-governmental organizations reads.
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According to the NGOs, Lazare Grigoriadis’ case has seen several violations of his constitutional rights:
- The trial in the lower court has been unreasonably prolonged, which violates his right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, as guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Convention.
- Serious procedural violations have occurred since Grigoriadis’ arrest and police interrogation. Despite his requests, he was questioned for several hours without a lawyer present. This violates the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine (evidence obtained unlawfully is inadmissible), as stated in Article 31, paragraph 10 of the Georgian Constitution and Article 72 of the Criminal Code.
However, even such a serious violation hasn’t stopped the politicized court. In this case, it seems that there’s a political agenda, where Grigoriadis is supposed to serve as an example to instill fear and expectations, especially among the youth, that participating in protests could come at a high cost.
According to NGO representatives, despite the identified violations in this case, they are even more convinced of the need for the introduction of a court integrity monitoring system.
