Tbilisi, 14 June 2016 - The pre-trial detention of former interior minister of Georgia, Ivane Merabishvili, was today confirmed as lawful by the European Court of Human Rights. The Court found the Georgian State had committed no violation of the legal rights to liberty and security or to the entitlement to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial - rights enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights.
Georgian Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani welcomed the decision: "We are very pleased that the Court clearly said that Merabishvili's pre-trial detention, which began in May 2013 and ended in February 2014, was lawful. Also, the Court found that the first two decisions concerning the pre-trial detention adopted by the Georgian judges were well-founded."
The Court did however uphold the complaint of Mr. Merabishvili that regarding the substantiation of a decision to prolong the pre-trial detention and ruled that a claim by the applicant that the detention was used to obtain leverage in another unrelated investigation had not been properly dealt with by the authorities. Minister Tsulukiani recognised the ruling and the Government of Georgia pledged to investigate the incident concerned:
"As for the violations, the Court indicated that in September 2013 one of the decisions concerning the refusal of replacement of the pre-trial detention with a bail was issued by a Georgian judge orally and respective judgement lacked sufficient substantiation. Hence, it was considered to be a violation. The Court also noted that Merabishvili claim concerning the incident of December 2014, when he was allegedly taken out from his prison to meet Darbaiseli and Phartkhaladze, was not investigated and therefore it represented the the breach of Article 18 of the Convention. This incident should therefore be investigated."
The Minister concluded: "Most importantly, the pre-trial detention that was terminated two years ago was considered to be lawful. There is a question mark in the episode with the Chief Prosecutor, which shall be investigated."
Ivane Merabishvili, who also served briefly as prime minister under the former United National Movement government, was arrested on 21 May 2013 after he attempted to pass Georgian border control with a fake international passport. On 17 February 2014 the defendant was found guilty of vote-buying, misappropriation of another person's property in a large amount and breach of the inviolability of another person's home. The charges of abuse of official authority were dismissed by the Court as redundant. On 21 October 2014, the Kutaisi Court of Appeal upheld the judgement in full. A review is currently pending before the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Links:
Press Release of the Registrar of the ECHR
Judgement of the ECHR- Case of Merabishvili v. Georgia