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Court of Appeal must restore justice

May 11, 2009

Paris – Tbilisi – Erevan, May 7, 2009 - Our organisations express their
concern on the case of Mr. Vahagn Chakhalyan, sentenced to a 10-year
prison term at the conclusion of a trial marred by irregularities, and
who was subsequentlty brutally beaten in prison in Tbilisi.

On April 7, 2009 the Akhaltsikhe district court in Georgia sentenced Mr.
Vahagn Chakhalyan, a local activist from the ethnic Armenian-populated
Javakheti region in the south of Georgia to 10 years in prison. The
court found Mr. Chakhalyan guilty of the following counts: acquisition
and possession of firearms and ammunition, participation in mass riots,
organisation of a group action disturbing public order, resistance to
the police or to another representative of the authorities, and
hooliganism. The court also condemned his father Mr. Ruben Chakhalyan
and his younger brother Mr. Armen Chakhalyan to fines equivalent to
3,000 and 1,200 USD respectively. On April 16, 2009 Mr. Vahagn
Chakhalyan was taken out of his cell in Tbilisi prison No. 8 to be
brutally beaten by prison officers.

Since his arrest in July 2008, the legal proceedings against Mr.
Chakhalyan have been marred by irregularities.

Mr. Chakhalyan was originally accused of illegal possession of firearms.
Despite his lawyer requests, no fingerprints were ever collected on the
weapons reportedly found in his house. Charges against him for violating
public order are a later addition, and relate to protests that followed
the October 2006 elections in Akhalkalaki.

Mr. Chakhalyan’s trial only started on November 6, 2008, and hearings
were repeatedly postponed. All legal proceedings took place in
Akhaltsikhe district court, although the events that led to the arrest
of Mr. Chakhalyan, his father and younger brother took place in
Akhalkalaki, their place of residence.

For unknown reasons, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia rejected Mr.
Chakhalyan’s request to be represented by the lawyer of his choice.
Considering that this decision violates the right of the defense, the
Ombudsman of Georgia officially requested the Minister of Justice to
permit the lawyer of his choice to defend Mr. Chakhalyan, to no avail.
According to his lawyers and his relatives, the translation provided to
Mr. Chakhalyan during his trial was incomplete and of poor quality. The
written records of the proceedings are therefore likely to be flawed.

Our organisations conclude that the procedure against Mr. Chakhalyan was
carried out with blatant violations of national, regional and
international legal standards on the right to a fair trial. FIDH, HRIDC
and CSI intend to follow closely the appeal trial of Mr. Chakhalyan, and
call upon the Georgian authorities to guarantee him a thorough and
independent trial in appeal, in conformity with Georgia's obligations
under regional and international Human Rights law.

*International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Human Rights Center (HRIDC)
Civil Society Institute (CSI)

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