“The Chorchana case is historic; it represents the Georgian state acting against its own national interests, territorial integrity, and sovereignty through specific individuals and particular instruments,” stated Berdia Sichinava, member of the Gakharia for Georgia party and lawyer for Giorgi Gakharia.

According to Berdia Sichinava, they have now reviewed the indictments relating to both the Chorchana and June 20 cases.

“We’ve been presented with the indictments on two cases: one concerns Chorchana [checkpoint], and the other relates to June 20 developments. We’ve familiarised ourselves with the case materials on Chorchana. The Prosecutor’s Office has already applied to the court regarding the use of imprisonment as a preventive measure, and a court hearing is scheduled for 3.30 p.m. local time at Tbilisi City Court.

The Chorchana case is historic; it represents the Georgian state acting against its own national interests, territorial integrity, and sovereignty through the actions of specific individuals using particular instruments. This case will hang like a sword of Damocles over the heads of all those involved. It is a betrayal of national interests, and it will be met with an appropriate response.

The case begins with statements from the so-called Neutral Georgia, delivered in a mocking tone, making accusations without proper substantiation or evidence. It continues with testimonies from false witnesses, including various political officials who bear responsibility themselves; if this issue was so sensitive and delicate, they should have responded accordingly.
It claims that the State Security Service learned about the construction of the checkpoint from Tskhinvali’s puppet occupation regime. This is so absurd that, if true, it directly points to dysfunction and specific crimes, including misconduct on the part of the State Security Service itself,” declared Berdia Sichinava.

According to Sichinava, from the standpoint of credibility and objectivity, testimony from officials cannot be considered reliable and directly indicates political motivation.

“Giorgi Gakharia is the object of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s personal vendetta. Our party will, of course, employ every internal mechanism to establish the objective truth in this case, including in international courts,” noted Berdia Sichinava.

According to Sichinava, the case materials relating to June 20 are rather voluminous.

“Most of it is probably waste paper, but what I can tell you about the charges brought regarding June 20 is that it’s legal insanity. There’s an allegation of organising the deliberate infliction of serious bodily harm. However, the deliberate infliction of serious bodily harm on individuals was caused by the use of rubber bullets in certain specific cases; this is what the expert reports indicate. Nevertheless, the same indictment confirms that Giorgi Gakharia did not issue any order to use rubber bullets. Furthermore, the Grand Chamber in Strasbourg has not yet made a ruling on this case. If you had been following the proceedings at the European Court of Human Rights, you would see that the positions of the state, including those of the injured parties and their representatives, clearly suggested that Gakharia’s culpability had not been established in these particular cases,” stated Berdia Sichinava.

Sichinava states that, according to his information, the Prosecutor’s Office will seek to impose imprisonment as a pre-trial measure on Giorgi Gakharia, while the defence will argue that no preventive measure should be applied to him at all.

“Our side is not requesting any bail whatsoever. We are simply asking that no preventive measures of any kind be imposed in connection with this case, as there is no crime. From the very beginning, Giorgi Gakharia was aware that he was being subjected to unofficial legal persecution. They have merely formalised this into a written case; it was not a surprise to him, but rather expected. The accusations against him are baseless and absurd, and he firmly denies the charges,” stated Berdia Sichinava.

When asked whether Giorgi Gakharia is considering returning to Georgia, Berdia Sichinava responded: “Who knows, we’ll see.”

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has initiated criminal prosecution against former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the case pertains to the events that took place at the protest rally on June 20-21, 2019, as well as the Chorchana checkpoint.