The Constitutional Court’s first panel is reviewing the Georgian Dream parliament’s case seeking to ban opposition political parties. The panel includes judges Eva Gotsiridze, Giorgi Kverenchkhladze, Giorgi Tevdorashvili, and Vasili Roinishvili, with Roinishvili serving as the chair.
Roinishvili previously served as chief prosecutor of Adjara when the United National Movement (UNM) was in power and during the murder of Sergeant Roin Shavadze in Batumi. In 2020, the European Court of Human Rights found violations of the right to life by the state in that case. Roinishvili was questioned as a prosecutor in September 2023. He has been a Constitutional Court judge since 2020 and is one of the high-ranking officials who should have overseen the investigation into the brutal and group killing of the sergeant. Instead of accountability, he was promoted.
In the Georgian Dream’s filing, deputies request the ban of the United National Movement citing the Shavadze case. This means that the case will be considered by Roinishvili, who was chief prosecutor at the time of Shavadze’s murder.
The filing reads: “During its time in power [2004–2012], the United National Movement created and developed a system of killings and other violence, committed acts involving torture or endangering human life, and in this regard engaged in clearly unconstitutional activity that went beyond isolated incidents and assumed a systemic character. This is supported by facts and evidence documented in the temporary investigative commission’s report and other relevant sources. Notably, this includes the murder of Sergeant Roin Shavadze.”
The case also references alleged mistreatment of journalists between 2004 and 2012. Among them, journalist Natia Rokhva of Batumelebi is cited, though the filing does not explicitly mention Batumelebi, unlike dozens of other cases naming specific media outlets. Journalist Natia Danelishvili, who worked at Kakheti Information Center, is also mentioned.
The filing demands the Constitutional Court declare the activities of three political parties unconstitutional and ban them: United National Movement, Coalition for Changes (Gvaramia–Melia, Girchi, Droa), and Strong Georgia (Lelo for People, for Freedom). It states: “The purpose of these political parties’ activities is to overthrow and violently change Georgia’s constitutional order, undermine the country’s independence, and violate its territorial integrity. We request that the activities of these political parties be recognized as unconstitutional, that these parties be banned, and their registration annulled.”