Georgia’s fifth President, Salome Zurabishvili, was allowed to attend the court hearing of 11 individuals detained during a protest. As lawyer Eka Beselia explained in the courtroom, Salome Zurabishvili’s identification document was brought to her, after which she was permitted to enter the proceedings.
Earlier, lawyer Natia Korkotadze stated that Salome Zurabishvili had arrived to attend the hearing of the 11 detained protesters but was denied entry by court marshals because she did not have her identification document with her. According to the lawyer, Zurabishvili had an electronic version of her ID, but despite this, she was still not allowed into the courtroom.
“I asked the court secretary to inform you that the marshal service should allow Salome Zurabishvili into the courtroom, and you refused… We requested the assistant to allow her entry even without the physical ID, as has been done before… This is awkward.
There is no such thing as a ‘former’ president; Georgia’s fifth President, Salome Zurabishvili, has been standing at the entrance for over half an hour, and it is awkward when she is not allowed into the courtroom. I am interested in your position on this matter. There has never been a precedent where a person’s identity was verified [through their ID] and they were still denied entry to the courtroom,” lawyer Natia Korkotadze addressed the judge.
Judge Nino Galustashvili provided clarifications on the matter.
“You said she didn’t have her ID, didn’t you? When a person has their ID, entering the courtroom has never been an issue. Today’s hearing is for closing statements, Ms. Natia, so please inform the court which representative from the defense will deliver the closing statement,” Galustashvili explained.
Salome Zurabishvili was allowed to attend the court hearing of the 11 individuals detained during the protest
