The Gori district court granted bail of 1000 GEL to civil activist and businessman Ioseb Babaev, whom the prosecutor's office accuses of illegally purchasing, storing, and carrying automatic firearms. Thus, Judge Goga Kupreishvili partially granted the prosecution's motion for a 10,000 GEL bail.
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The prosecutor of the case, Mikheil Beriashvili, justified the motion by citing the accused's flight risk and the danger of committing a new crime, which Ioseb Babaev and his lawyers dispute. They believe that the court should not have applied the preventive measure at all.
"The 'evidence' in the case does not even meet the reasonable suspicion standard. Today's decision of the court partially hinted at this and suggested that there will be an acquittal in this case," said one of the defendant's lawyers, Kakha Kalmakhelidze.
"They arrested me, planted a gun on me, severely beat me, and imposed a 1000 GEL bail on me if I didn't leave the country. This is absurd. Still, I am grateful to the judge because I expected a worse result than this. I will continue to fight and prove my innocence," Babaev said after the trial.
Ioseb Babaev, the owner of Resto Bar in Gori and an active participant in actions against the Russian law, was arrested a month ago, on June 4, under Article 236 of the Criminal Code, which refers to the illegal purchase, storage, and carrying of weapons. Babaev stated that he was physically abused during his arrest. The prosecutor's office could not continue the charges because the judge of the Gori district court, Levan Darbaidze, ruled all the investigative actions conducted by the police illegal and deemed the weapon, supposedly removed from Babaev's car, inadmissible evidence. Babaev was released from the temporary detention center on June 6.
The Prosecutor's Office appealed the decision of the Gori District Court and demanded its complete reversal. On June 14, Judge Davit Akhalbedashvili of the Court of Appeal partially changed the decision of Judge Levan Darbaidze, considering the search of the car legal. Accordingly, the automatic firearm, which the police claimed was removed from Babaev's car, was recognized as admissible evidence. However, the appellate court also ruled Babaev's personal search and the removal of the pistol illegal.
On July 3, at the Shida Kartli Police Department, Ioseb Babaev was charged under the 3rd and 4th parts of Article 236 of the Criminal Code, referring to the illegal acquisition, storage, and carrying of firearms. If convicted, he faces 3 to 7 years in prison.
