At the request of the prosecutor, the judge removed from Mariam Mekantshivili’s case the protocol documenting the review of Shalva Papuashvili’s social-media post.
The post in question was published by the chairman of Georgian Dream on the day Mekantshivili was detained, in which he referred to the activist as an “extremist” and “one of the organizers of a violent group.”
Later, Mekantshivili was indeed charged under the article for “organizing group actions.” However, at the time Papuashvili publicly accused her of “organizing violence,” no decision had yet been issued formally stating the charges. According to the activist’s lawyers, this proves that her detention and prosecution are politically motivated.
“I didn’t want to discuss our defense strategy at this stage, but I have to the defense believes that the reason Mariam Mekantshivili is sitting in the defendant’s chair today is a political order. This is a direct order from Shalva Papuashvili,” attorney Ana Beria said at the November 27 pre-trial hearing, adding that Papuashvili’s statement also violated the presumption of innocence.
Why did the defense have to talk about their strategy at the pre-trial stage?
Because the prosecution requested that the court remove Papuashvili’s post from the list of evidence submitted by the defense. Prosecutor Lasha Tskhvitari argued that the opinion of a public official about a case is not something to be considered within the framework of a criminal trial.
Defense attorney Ana Beria responded that, at the pre-trial stage, the court examines only the legality of how evidence was obtained, not its content. She urged the judge to review whether the evidence was lawfully collected and attached to the case; its relevance to the facts should be assessed later during the substantive hearing.
“This post was published by Shalva Papuashvili on October 17 at 19:19. Mariam Mekantshivili was detained on the morning of October 17. At that time we did not even know what articles would be used against her the charging decision had not been issued yet, while Papuashvili was publicly calling her an organizer of violent groups,” Beria said.
Another defense attorney, Ayhan Hasanli, told the judge that if she starts reviewing the substance of evidence at this stage contrary to the law she will then have to exclude 99% of the prosecution’s evidence, since unlike Papuashvili’s post, most of it has no real connection to the case.
Judge Meia Melkadze granted the prosecution’s motion and removed the evidence intended to support the defense’s argument that the activist’s arrest was politically motivated. The judge did not say the evidence was unlawfully obtained, but claimed she was assessing it based on its “relevance to the factual circumstances.”
Hasanli told Netgazeti that they will appeal the judge’s decision.
“Mariam Mekantshivili’s detention is a political order. She spoke with the OSCE chair, and right after that she was arrested. This violates the presumption of innocence. The content of this post is directly connected with the case,” Hasanli said.
According to him, Papuashvili had also posted the same statement on Facebook, but it can no longer be found there. The English version of the post remains visible on Papuashvili’s account on X (formerly Twitter).
In the post, Papuashvili wrote: “The Foreign Minister of Finland, who currently chairs the OSCE, filmed a video showing how she violates the law by blocking Tbilisi’s central avenue, where she is talking with one of the shameful representatives of extremist groups.”
In the same post, Papuashvili criticizes the OSCE Chair Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen for visiting protesters at the demonstration near parliament.
Valtonen, who went to speak with protesters on Rustaveli Avenue on October 15, met with Mariam Mekantshivili.
“MFA of Finland, acting OSCE chair and her delegation were approached as a ‘tourist group’ by their ‘interpreter,’ who was most likely provided by our illegitimate Foreign Ministry! 😂
I don’t know why they thought we were ‘uneducated Georgian Dream people,’ but we shattered their stereotypes thanks to our communication skills, we delivered every message, including a request to accelerate sanctions!!”- Mekantshivili wrote on social media that day.
The next day, October 16, it became known that Elina Valtonen had been fined 5,000 GEL for the “artificial blockage of the road” during the protest. And on October 17, at dawn, Mariam Mekantshivili was arrested. The MIA detained her in relation to the events of October 4, and the prosecution charged her with “organizing group actions.” Because she is a single mother of a minor child, two days after her arrest the court granted bail. Her supporters collected the 5,000 GEL in ten minutes, after which she was released.
Yesterday, November 27, the pre-trial hearing took place. Along with Mekantshivili, 11 other defendants are involved in the case. Judge Meia Melkadze refused to change the preventive measures for any of them all remain in pre-trial detention except Mekantshivili.
The substantive hearing is scheduled to continue on December 10 at 14:00.
The case involving 64 people arrested on October 4 has been split into five parts. The majority of the defendants remain in custody.