NGO activists refuse treating David Kirkitadze's case as political

The defence of David Kirkitadze, an activist of the "United National Movement" (UNM) oppositional party, has demanded to remove Judge Nuna Nemsitsveridze from running the trial on the attack on the policeman, arguing that she is biased about the case. Oppositional activists treat the charges as political; however, there are no reasons for this, the NGO activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 12, the Gurdjaani District Court refused to release David Kirkitadze, a UNM activist, from custody; he declared his distrust of the court.

At the March 27 session at the Gurdjaani District Court, Kirkitadze's defence demanded to remove Judge Nuna Nemsitsveridze from running the case, claiming that she was an interested party. However, the court rejected the defence's motion.

Opposition activists and supporters have stated that Kirkitadze was "disproportionally charged." "We demand that Kirkitadze be tried according to the law ... He is tried under the article that is applied to robbers who launch a shootout with the police," said Giorgi Ugulava, the UNM leader.

In his turn, Gela Nikolaishvili, an activist of the NGO "Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights", believes that there is no political persecution of Kirkitadze.

"Signs of political persecution can be found in any case ... However, in fact, one should always take into account what proofs are presented when charging," Mr Nikolaishvili has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 28, 2019 at 05:58 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.