"Today, we had scheduled sessions in both the Kutaisi Court of Appeal and the Tbilisi Court of Appeal. Yesterday, these cases were assigned to different judges and, consequently, to different compositions. Today, shortly before the proceedings were set to begin, we were informed that all the appeals submitted to the Kutaisi Court of Appeal would be consolidated into a single case," said Nona Kurdovanidze, chair of the Young Lawyers Association.
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She also stated that if these cases were kept separate, they would have to be heard by different panels of judges.
"The likelihood that he would have written a different opinion or referenced the precedent of Tetritskaro would have been higher in such a situation. It seems that after the Tetritskaro court's decision, the court's management was arranged differently.
The consolidated case in the Kutaisi Court of Appeal is set to start at 16:00. "We are awaiting confirmation from the Tbilisi Court of Appeal regarding whether all the election disputes from Eastern Georgia will be combined into a single case," Kurdovanidze said.
In relation to the mass violation of vote secrecy, the Kutaisi Court of Appeal was required to consider the appeals of GYLA against the District Election Commissions of Batumi, Kobuleti, Khoni, Vani, Samtredia, Sachkhere, and Chiatura at different times.
Yesterday evening, Tetritskaro district court judge Vladimer Khuchua made a precedent-setting decision, unlike those made by all other district courts. He confirmed the violation of vote secrecy and declared the (electronic) results from 30 election precincts in Tetritskaro and Tsalka invalid. The judge requested a vote-counting machine, a ballot, a marker, and a frame envelope. During the court session, a technical inspection was conducted, during which it was established that when the ballots are placed in the machine, the choice made on the back side is visible.
According to the Central Election Commission, the decision of the Tetritskaro Court will be appealed to the Tbilisi Court of Appeal.
