Representatives of the diplomatic corps appealed to Tbilisi City Court Judge Tamar Makharoblidze, asking permission for accredited embassy staff to attend hearings in the so-called sabotage case as observers. However, the court denied the request.
The letter was signed by representatives of:
- The Embassy of Germany;
- The Embassy of France;
- The Embassy of the United Kingdom;
- The Embassy of Poland;
- The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.
The authors of the appeal emphasized that, given the high public interest in the case both within the country and abroad, diplomatic missions should be granted the opportunity to attend court hearings as observers.
The letter addressed to Judge Tamar Makharoblidze states:
“As far as we are aware, a criminal case is currently before you concerning Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Nika Gvaramia, Nikanor Melia, Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze, and Elene Khoshtaria under charges provided for in Articles 317, 318, 319, and 321 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. We are also aware that court hearings in this case have been closed to the public in order to maintain order.
Given the high level of interest in the case from both Georgian society and the international community, we ask that accredited representatives of our diplomatic missions be granted the right to attend court hearings as observers. Diplomatic observation of judicial proceedings in cases of significant public interest is a long-standing and widely recognized international practice that contributes to the transparency of the process. Such presence will be strictly observational in nature and will have no impact on the course of the judicial proceedings. We hope that the court will deem it possible to grant this opportunity.”
According to defense attorneys in the so-called sabotage case, Judge Tamar Makharoblidze rejected the diplomatic missions’ request.
Following this, the defense filed a similar motion requesting the admission of embassy representatives to the trial; however, according to the lawyers, the court denied that motion as well.