A citizen detained during protests against the so-called “Russian Law” has won a case against the Georgian government at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Giorgi Mekvabishvili was detained in 2023, when Georgian Dream first initiated the “Russian Law” [Law on transparency of foreign influence]. His rights were defended by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA).
On 7–8 March 2023, a protest held near the Parliament building was dispersed by the authorities using police force. It is also noteworthy that police actively resorted to the practice of indiscriminate detention of protesters. According to GYLA, during the dispersal of the protest, Giorgi Mekvabishvili was filming on his phone an alleged instance of violence by law enforcement officers against another individual and was urging the police not to use force against a protest participant. At that moment, he was detained by the police on the basis of Articles 166 (petty hooliganism) and 173 (failure to comply with a lawful order or demand of a law enforcement officer) of the Code of Administrative Offences.
According to the police explanation, the applicant was detained for failing to comply with a lawful police order to clear the roadway, despite the fact that he was moving on the sidewalk. The applicant spent more than 35 hours in a temporary detention facility, and, according to GYLA, the state failed to substantiate the reasons for extending the duration of his detention. This issue was not examined by the judge during the consideration of the administrative offence case either. The applicant was held administratively liable under the Code of Administrative Offences adopted in 1984 and was fined 2,000 GEL.
In his application to the European Court of Human Rights, the applicant alleged violations of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ECHR found that two articles of the Convention had indeed been violated in Mekvabishvili’s case: Article 6 (the right to a fair trial) and Article 11 (freedom of assembly).
Under the Court’s judgment, the state is obliged to pay the applicant:
- EUR 665 in respect of pecuniary damage;
- EUR 1,600 in respect of non-pecuniary damage;
- any tax that may be chargeable on these amounts.
“This is the first case in which a judgment has been delivered in the context of the 2023 protests against the ‘Russian law.’ The Strasbourg Court condemns the Georgian courts for issuing a ‘conviction’ (finding of an administrative offence) against a demonstrator based almost exclusively on the unsubstantiated testimony of the police.
According to the Strasbourg Court, the domestic courts completely ignored the protest context when examining the administrative offence case.
This is precisely how GYLA assessed this practice in its documentation reports on the 2023 protests. As a result of this practice, hundreds of people were affected — found administratively liable without a fair trial,” – commented GYLA Chairperson, Tamar Onian in Social media post.
