On May 16, 2016, Tbilisi City Court found 5 former high ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense guilty in the so-called Cable Case and sentenced them to 7 years in prison. The public had been following the case for a long time, raising questions about the fairness and transparency of the process. The politicized nature of the case had further intensified public distrust.
The legal circumstances around the case and specific shortcomings during the trial have exacerbated the public perception that the judiciary had acted in a biased way. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continue to monitor the case and make statements containing detailed assessments.
A joint statement made by NGOs has been actively reported by news agencies. www.liberali.ge and www.tabula.ge published the statements in full.
www.netgazeti.ge wrote about President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s comments about the Cable Case, the joint NGO statement and specifically cited the IDFI's director Giorgi Kldiashvili.
www.tabula.ge published in full Giorgi Kldiashvili’s comments about the political context of the Cable Case and the lack of prosecution evidence. According to Giorgi Kldiashvili, “the court gave in to political pressure.
www.netgazeti.ge published a second article on the Cable Case with the comments made by the High Council of Justice regarding the NGO statement. The High Council of Justice considers it inappropriate for NGO’s to claim that the court decision is unsubstantiated before the full text of the decision has been published. The High Council of Justice stated that such statements by NGOs ‘undermine democracy’. This information was also published in the newspaper Rezonansi.
In an interview with Radio Pirveli Giorgi Kldiashvili briefly assessed the court decision and emphasized the political influence on the court. According to Kldiashvili, the political context of and uncertainty surrounding the case casts doubt on the correctness of the court decision.
The joint statement was also reported by other online news portals, including:
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