Experts: ECtHR's decision not to affect Merabishvili's term

The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Vano Merabishvili's complaint will be appealed against, said Thea Tsulukiani, the Minister of Justice of Georgia, noting that in this case the above decision may come into force only in 2017. Georgian experts have pointed out that the ECtHR did not demand to release Merabishvili; they are confident that this will happen only after the complete end of his term.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 14 the ECtHR announced its decision on the appeal of Vano Merabishvili, a former Prime Minister, who was detained in May 2013. The ECtHR recognized that the judgement of the Georgian court on Merabishvili's pre-trial detention was unjustified. His advocate believes that Merabishvili, therefore, may be treated as a political prisoner.

The ECtHR's decision states that Merabishvili's detention had pursued the aim of restricting his political activities. As stated by Ucha Nanuashvili, the Georgian Ombudsman, the decision indicates that Merabishvili's rights had been violated by his pre-trial detention; however, it does not cancel his guilt in the corruption case.

Nana Kakabadze, the Chair of the NGO "Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights", believes that the ECtHR's decision on Merabishvili's complaint is erroneous. She puts the main blame for this decision on the advocates, who represented the Georgia's Govt at the ECtHR.

Giorgi Khukhashvili, a political analyst and a former adviser to the ex-Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili, is confident that the authorities will not admit Merabishvili's release before the parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 8 this year.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.