“I have had much to say over the past two months, and I now wish to express my position. I have conducted an analysis. I want to stand in solidarity with those who seek a better future for our country, the many who are unjustly imprisoned. I aim to show the court and society something different. The court should not be an institution where people wait to be picked up and hanged,” declared Levan Khabeishvili, a member of the United National Movement, during his trial.

Khabeishvili stated that he is accused of making a political statement, which he finds incomprehensible.

“When I come here, I at least hope, even if only 0.5%, to find justice. When I speak about myself, I am speaking for hundreds of others who have been detained. We have not given the court the legitimacy to punish us or imprison us in dungeons. How many lives have been shattered, children, families? Justice should be humane. I cannot find justice. Why have I been sitting here for two months? What am I accused of? Is it some action? Or simply because I am a politician making political statements? If I had come into power, they would reward me. A political promise cannot be considered a bribe. It is utterly incomprehensible that a politician is imprisoned for expressing political views.

If I said I dislike the constitutional order and called for its overthrow, yes, that would be overthrowing it. But I have merely used slogans like ‘Fire the oligarchy.’ Does that mean we should burn it? Have you heard the slogan ‘The system must be destroyed’? Do you think we should destroy it with a perforator? Thanks to the prosecutor’s office, I have, in fact, been able to familiarise myself with so much literature while at Rustavi prison. I have two children, and they have also lost their father. How can Levan Khabeishvili be considered a danger to society?

When I criticised Garibashvili for corruption, they called me a clown and a liar. He came here, humiliated himself, saying he did. Justice should not be based on crushing or destroying a person, nor on who is assigned a particular task. When I mentioned Partskhaladze, I said he was an agent of the FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Service]. They called me a clown, saying Kezerashvili financed him. When I questioned how Mikautadze was brought to parliament, they arrested him four years later,” Khabeishvili has said.

He dismissed the prosecutor’s claim that he is at risk of absconding and should therefore be detained as “an anecdote.”

“I have no hope. I left my two windows open to let in some air. Are you a judge? Show me where this so-called justice is. The prosecutor claims I might run away; that’s just an anecdote. I have spoken all my statements publicly. What am I supposed to destroy? Let them open my phone; I bought it on instalments, and they took it away without unlocking it. People should be rushing to court, but instead, they despise and hate it.

Do you know what’s missing in current politics? Christianity. I have been tortured, you might be surprised to hear this, but I am recognised as a victim. I was kidnapped and tortured, yet I have received no justice.

They want me to answer for my political statements, but no one else has been arrested. Am I not a human being? There is no vendetta in my torture case. Those who participated, Khareba [Zviad Kharazishvili, former Special Task Force Head] or whatever you call him.

I work to ensure that revenge does not drive me. My children are 16 and 14 years old. I tell them, don’t seek revenge, don’t carry it in your hearts,” Khabeishvili concluded.

On September 11, the State Security Service arrested Levan Khabeishvili on charges of publicly promising bribes to officials.