Civil activist and businessman Ioseb Babaev was charged at the Shida Kartli Police Department under Parts 3 and 4 of Article 236 of the Criminal Code. This article pertains to the illegal purchase, storage, and carrying of firearms and is punishable by 3 to 7 years of imprisonment.
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Babaev was indicted after an appeals court ruled two weeks ago that police searched his car, during which they allegedly seized an automatic firearm.
"Indictments were made only in the case of the automatic firearm, as even the appellate court found that the personal search and seizure of the pistol were illegal. Of course, during both the personal and vehicle searches, a gun was placed on Ioseb Babaev.
Today, the investigator offered us the opportunity to participate in the search operation and to provide a saliva sample, which we refused because we do not trust the investigation. Ioseb Babaev states that during the arrest, his biological material was obtained illegally by the police and it is possible that it was placed on the automatic firearm. That's why we refused to participate in the investigation," lawyer Aleksi Merebashvili told Georgian News.
The prosecutor's office must apply to the court within 48 hours for a restraining order against Ioseb Babaev. The defense believes that there is no basis for either imprisonment or bail.
"Ioseb Babaev did not hide from me during this one month. Nor can he affect the witnesses, because the witnesses are policemen. It is unnecessary to talk about re-committing the 'crime.' We will wait for the court proceedings to start. We are sure that we will have a favorable verdict," says Aleksi Merebashvili.
Ioseb Babaev assesses the indictment against him as political retribution: "The pistol was planted on me illegally, and the machine gun was planted on me legally. They put a machine gun on me, which they placed in the car themselves. This is political retribution, this is Russian terror in Georgia. They don't like critical thinking people, pro-European thinkers, free people, and they want to silence them in any way," says Babaev.
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, on the basis of Article 236 of the Criminal Code, which refers to the illegal purchase, storage, and carrying of weapons. The prosecutor's office could no longer charge him because after two days of imprisonment, Gori district court judge Levan Darbaidze declared all the investigative actions conducted by the police illegal and considered the weapon, supposedly removed from Babaev's car, inadmissible evidence. Babaev left the temporary detention center on June 6.
On June 14, Tbilisi Court of Appeal judge Davit Akhalbedashvili partially changed the decision of judge Levan Darbaidze and considered the search of the car legal. The prosecutor's office demanded the complete annulment of the decision of the court of first instance.
Ioseb Babaev appealed to the Special Investigation Service, requesting that the policemen who, according to him, planted the weapons and whose testimony led to his illegal detention for two days, be brought to justice. The investigators questioned Ioseb Babaev, but they have not yet given him the status of a victim.
