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Lawyer Ramin Papidze in Administrative Imprisonment

August 3, 2011

Maka Malakmadze, Adjara

Lawyer Ramin Papidze has been on dry hunger-strike in Batumi pre-trial detention setting for sixth day already. He was detained under administrative charge at 12:00 am of July 29.

The chairman of the Batumi City Court Temur Gogokhia imposed 10-day administrative imprisonment on the lawyer Papidze on July 28 during non-working hours. The judge passed verdict based on the statements of Yuri Zakaradze and Nodar Diasamidze, bailiffs of the Batumi City Court.

Ramin Papidze personally arrived at the Batumi pretrial detention setting late at night. Before that, he said in the program Dialogue of the TV-Channel 25 that he was going to start a dry hunger-strike in prison.

“I am going to start a dry hunger-strike. The fines were not enough punishment for them (in total Ramin Papidze was fined with 3 100 GEL during the court hearings of the case about the convicted for the blockade of the Adjara Television), and now they persecute me with physical assault and imprisonment. I am on the so-called black list and I am considered to be a disobedient lawyer. Prosecutors and judges also joke about it. They restrict me in criminal cases and do not allow me to protect the defendants. Maybe, I will be compelled to stop my advocacy activities too,” said Ramin Papidze.

Bailiffs Zakaradze and Diasamidze noted in their statements that lawyer Ramin Papidze insulted the court and resisted the bailiffs during detention.

Ramin Papidze protected the suspects for the participation in the blockade of the Adjara TV-Company during the May 21 demonstration at the Batumi City Court. Papidze represented five out of seven defendants during the trial. Judge Vera Dolidze initially fined him with 200 GEL and after Papidze protested the fact, he was expelled from the court-room.

Outside the court-room the bailiffs continued to assault Papidze. The lawyer alleges they even beat him and the noise made citizens to leave the court-room. On July 28, the trial failed on this particular case.

Later, at 7:30 pm the chairman of the Batumi City Court Temur Gogokhia held an administrative process based on the bailiffs’ statement.

Ramin Papidze’s lawyer Irakli Shavadze: “There is no protocol on the law violation in the case. The judgment was based only on the statements of the bailiffs. Other citizens also witnessed the incident but the judge did not satisfy the solicitation on interrogating the witnesses thus the right to fair trial was breached. We intend to appeal against the judgment.”

The Human Rights Center got in touch with the head of the Batumi pre-trial detention setting Suliko Beridze and inquired about the health conditions of the detained lawyer. Beridze shortly replied “I have 100 detainees in the setting and do not remember who you are speaking about. Please send official letter and we will reply to you” and cut off the line.

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