Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, Droa party leader, was granted bail of GEL 5,000 by Judge Arsen Kalatozishvili. However, she has refused to pay the amount.

The trial was scheduled to start at 13:00 but was delayed until 15:30, primarily because Khoshtaria declined legal representation and the right to a defence. The court appointed a treasury lawyer to her, but she also refused this assistance and did not meet with the human rights defender who visited her at the detention centre.

Khoshtaria did not attend the trial herself. During the proceedings, the judge expressed confusion over her absence, stating he did not understand why she had not appeared. The deadline for paying the bail was set at twenty days.

Khoshtaria made it clear that she would not be paying the bail.

“If someone were to post my bail, it would be like stabbing me in the heart. I will not allow anyone to do that,” she stated.

The Droa party leader also shared a letter on social media, saying:

“I fully understand the importance of fighting alongside you today, so no one should assume that my imprisonment is my choice. It is my choice to never do anything in this struggle that I cannot justify to my conscience and to you.”

According to Khoshtaria, “paying bail and being released is not genuine freedom.”

“This is merely a gesture, the opening of the prison door, which, of course, I will not pay for. Not because it wounds my self-respect, but because I cannot call you to fight while participating in lies and farces. My imprisonment is illegal, as is the detention of many others who are free in spirit. But let me assure you, imprisonment is not the end of the struggle. I promise you, we will prevail triumphantly! Until the very end!” reads Khoshtaria’s letter.

Law enforcement officers detained Elene Khoshtaria on September 15. She was charged under Part 1 of Article 187 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to damage to another person’s property causing significant harm, carrying a sentence of one to five years’ imprisonment.