The Tbilisi Court of Appeals upheld the decision to exclude Shalva Papuashvili’s post from the case of Mariam Mekantsishvili. This means that tomorrow, December 10, the substantive hearing will begin without the evidence that the defense planned to use to demonstrate the political motivation behind the activist’s criminal prosecution.

The first-instance decision was made by Judge Meia Melkadze, and it was reviewed by the appellate judge Sergo Metopishvili, who did not change it. Mekhanjishvili’s lawyer, Ana Beria, wrote that these decisions are illegal.

“Shalva Papuashvili refers to Mariam Mekantsishvili as a prominent member of a violent group, even though at that time the defense was not yet aware of the specific article under which Mariam Mekantsishvili was charged, as the indictment was filed in the pre-trial detention facility on October 18, 2025. (The post was published on October 17.) Considering all of the above, this statement confirms that:

  • Mariam Mekantsishvili’’s arrest is politically motivated;
  • The presumption of innocence of our client was violated;
  • There was defamation against her;
  • A political officeholder publicly shared the main criminal evidence – video material which was unknown even to the defense.

Beyond the discussion of the illegality of assessing the relevance of evidence at the pre-trial hearing, Appellate Court Judge Sergo Metopishvili did not agree with the defense’s arguments listed above,” Beria wrote on social media.

The post of Georgian Dream’s parliamentary chairman, Shalva Papuashvili, was requested to be excluded from the case by prosecutor Lasha Tskhvitari on November 27 during the pre-trial hearing. The prosecutor argued that the evaluation of a state official on a particular matter does not constitute an issue for criminal proceedings.

In response, Mekantsishvilii’s lawyers explained that at a pre-trial hearing, the court only examines the legality of evidence, not its content. They asked the judge to consider only whether the evidence was obtained legally, while its relevance to the case would be examined at the substantive stage by a different judge.

However, Judge Meia Melkadze satisfied the prosecution’s request and excluded the evidence from Mekantsishvili’s case. The judge did not indicate any problem with the legality of obtaining the evidence but stated that she would consider it in relation to the facts of the case.

The post in question was published on the day of Mekantsishvili’s arrest, in which Papuashvili described the activist as an “extremist” and “one of the organizers of a violent group.” Later, Mekantsishvili was formally charged under the article for “organizing group actions.” However, at the time Papuashvili publicly accused her of organizing violence, the formal charge had not yet been issued. According to the defense, this supports the claim that Mekantsishvili’s arrest and criminal prosecution were politically motivated.

Mariam Mekantsishvilii was arrested in the early hours of October 17. The Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested her in connection with the October 4 case, and the prosecution charged her with “organizing group actions.” Since Mekantsishvili’is a single mother of a minor child, two days after her arrest, the court granted bail. Supporters collected 5,000 GEL for her in 10 minutes, after which she was released from detention.

The October 4 arrests involved 64 people, whose cases were divided into five parts. Most of them remain in custody.