With the Help of HRC, the Court of Appeals found Illegal the Detention of a Civil Activist

Humanrights.ge 

As a result of the legal aid provided by HRC,  Kutaisi Court of Appeals granted the complaint of a civil activist, Kakhaber Kvekveskiri. The Court of Appeals found illegal the administrative detention imposed on Kakhaber Kvekveskiri by the Zugdidi District Court on November 1, 2021.  

On October 30, 2021 - the day of local self-government elections, Kakhaber Kvekveskiri was in Zugdidi as an observer at  polling station N 67.20. Beka Papashvili, Giorgi Mumladze and Albert Merebashvili were present to carry out the observation mission together with Kakhaber Kvekveskiri. They found people in cars within a radius of 100 meters from the polling station with some lists  in their hands. They, as the observers, within their authority, identified the fact / violation and approached the police standing nearby to react.  The police showed no reactions  to the fact. 

Shortly afterwards, Mamuka Tsotsoria and Irakli Chikovani, election subjects running from  the Georgian Dream party, appeared at the polling station. Following this, the GD supporters sitting in the cars began to  act still within a radius of 100 meters. One of them hit Beka Papashvili, an observer who was present with Kakhaber Kvekveskiri. During the violent incident, the police also arrested one of the supporters of Mamuka Tsotsoria. Kakhaber Kvekveskiri was called as a witness for an interview at the police station. He told the police that he would have arrived at the police station later as he was conducting an observation mission at the polling station. The police ignored his request and  took him to the police station by use of force. After being transferred to the police station, Kvekveskiri was explained that he had not even brought  as a witness to the police, but had been detained under Article 166 (2) of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia. 

Representatives of the law enforcement agency may not  bring the person to be interviewed as a witness by use of force  without a relevant court order, which was not issued in this case.

On November 1, 2021,  Zugdidi District Court  held Kakhaber Kvekveskiri as an administrative offender and sanctioned  him to 5 days of administrative detention under Article 166(2). 

HRC appealed against the decision of Zugdidi District Court of November 1, 2021 with Kutaisi Court of Appeals. On November 8, 2021, Kutaisi Court of Appeals heard  the appeal and granted it. Accordingly, the order  issued by Zugdidi District Court on November 1, 2021 against Kakhaber Kvekveskiri was reversed and the imposed administrative detention  was declared illegal.