Lawyer Shota Tutberidze considers the detention of Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change,” to be political persecution. In a statement to InterpressNews, the lawyer described the detention on the charges brought by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a restriction of freedom of expression.
“Of course, this is a restriction of freedom of expression. Presumably, this is the same type of political persecution as in the case of Megi Diasamidze, where an act carried out within the framework of freedom of expression, the realization of the right to expression, is considered a crime, and this is applied only to certain individuals. The public knows that we have dozens of cases where not only damaging or writing on election banners, which can be wiped off with a cloth, but even cases where people’s property was destroyed, or just a few days ago, group violence was committed against individuals, and no accountability has been established for those cases,” stated Shota Tutberidze.
For reference, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change,” was detained by law enforcement for damaging the election banners of Kakha Kaladze, the Tbilisi mayoral candidate of “Georgian Dream.” The investigation is being conducted under Article 187 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to damaging or destroying property. The crime carries a penalty of up to 5 years of imprisonment.
