Saakashvili's trial held in his absence, hearing postponed

The trial of Mikheil Saakashvili was postponed until November 29, and the ex-president himself was not allowed to attend the meeting, since the penitentiary service refused to bring him to the courtroom from prison. According to the ministry, Saakashvili was not allowed to attend the court hearing out of fears of “unrest” by the opposition and disruption of the process.

Mikheil Saakashvili is accused of mass dispersal of protesters on November 7, 2007, persecution of Imedi TV channel and illegal seizure of property of businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili.

At today’s meeting, the measure of restraint applied to the former president of Georgia in the “November 7 case” was canceled. Saakashvili was also allowed to use the telephone, but lawyers say the authorities will “disable the phones” in the prison hospital where the ex-president is currently held.

According to Judge Nino Eliashvili, she does not see the need to use arrest as a preventive measure in relation to Saakashvili, who is already serving his sentence in another case, which means that if President Salome Zurabishvili pardons Saakashvili, he will be released from prison.

Earlier, the court found Mikheil Saakashvili guilty in absentia in two cases – orchestrating the beating of MP Valery Gelashvili and pardoning the murderers of Sandro Girgvliani. The ex-president was sentenced to six years in prison.

What happened during the trial

During the trial, which lasted four hours, Judge Nino Elishvili refused to bring Mikheil Saakashvili in remotely or by telephone.

The judge denied lawyers Nika Gvaramia and Dmitry Sadzaglishvili to participate in the hearing. Only two lawyers were present at the meeting – Beka Basilai and Shota Tutberidze.

The judge explained that the lawyers were not allowed to participate because the session had already been in progress. Lawyer Beka Basilai demanded a break on the basis of the relevant legislation, after which Gvaramia and Sadzaglishvili could enter the courtroom, but Judge Eleishvili did not announce it.

Having received the refusal of the judge, Beka Basilai said that in this case, participation in the current trial does not make sense. Accordingly, he and lawyer Shota Tutberidze left the courtroom.

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The trial of Mikhail Saakashvili was noisy. His supporters gathered in the courtyard awaiting the judge’s decision. The police were also mobilized.

“You starve him (Saakashvili) and deprive him of his right to trial. We arranged a Kafkaesque trial”, said one of the opposition leaders, Gigi Ugulava, who was also removed from the courtroom.

Gigi Ugulava is being charged in the November 7 case together with Mikheil Saakashvili, as well as former Defense Minister David Kezerashvili and Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili.

Beka Basilai said that the judges are waiting for the deterioration of the physical condition of Mikhail Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike in prison for 41 days, so that he cannot be present in court.

“They expect that Mikhail Saakashvili will find himself in a situation where he will not be able to walk. They are waiting for the protests to die out and people disperse. They are waiting for a critical aggravation of the process”, the lawyer said.

According to him, he sees how the government “trembles before the appearance of Saakashvili in public”. According to Basilai, the court confirmed today that there is no justice in the country and it does not matter to him for what reason that is, as the main thing is that Mikheil Saakashvili was absent from the courtroom.

The director of the Mtavari Arkhi TV company and one of the lawyers, Nika Gvaramia, said that Saakashvili was being tortured in prison by means of compulsory treatment and pressure.

“At the trial of Saakashvili, incredible violations are taking place that had no precedents under any government. Not letting lawyers into the courtroom is incredible, but what is happening in the prison is impossible to imagine”, Gvaramia said.

Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria inspected the medical facility of the Gldani prison on the outskirts of Tbilisi, where Saakashvili was transferred from the prison in the city of Rustavi several times. The Ombudsman wrote in her reports that the conditions in the clinic are not suitable for treating the patient.

This was one of the arguments of Mikheil Saakashvili’s doctors and lawyers, so they categorically opposed the transfer of Mikheil Saakashvili to a prison in Gldani. The ex-president himself did not agree with this either.

The council, the civil sector, opposition, artists and many other prominent figures have called on the government to transfer the former president to a civilian multidisciplinary clinic.

With this demand, the leader of the Droa political party, Elena Khoshtaria, also went on a hunger strike in parliament. The authorities stubbornly repeated that, if necessary, the prisoner would be transferred to a medical facility in the Gldani prison.

On November 8, Mikheil Saakashvili was forcibly taken to the Gldani prison. The ex-president has been on hunger strike for 40 days, demanding release from prison, where he was placed after returning to Georgia from Ukraine on October 1.

In parallel with these processes, on November 8, the opposition launched large-scale, indefinete protests demanding the release of Mikhail Saakashvili and the announcement of early elections.