The court sentenced the Deputy Chairman of the Marneuli City Council, Rovshan Iskandarov, and his cousin, Etibar Iskandarov, to preventive detention. The defense requested their release on bail of 50 000 GEL, but Judge Gvantsa Chikovani denied this request.
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The Iskandarovs plead not guilty to the charges. During the trial, the Deputy Chairman of the City Council again accused the opposition of provocation.
“If they’re talking about falsification, I don’t need falsification. Everyone knows that the people of Sadakhlo, those living in the Sadakhlo administrative unit, are 100% on my side. [...] Observers from the National Movement were interfering from the morning, preventing the elderly from voting. Everything happened because of that. It was all planned. I swear to God and to you that this is true. I hope this is not a National Movement’s court, but a fair court. We trust God above and you here below,” said Rovshan Iskandarov.
Lawyer Zurab Dalakishvili denies that the Iskandarovs committed any criminal offense. According to him, "there may have been some procedural misconduct."
“Fake ballots do not exist in nature. Therefore, it is impossible to speak of election fraud. We drew conclusions from the footage, but the public has no information about the situation at the polling station at that moment. No evidence exists today, nor will it in the future. What actually happened will only be clarified after the investigation,” the lawyer told reporters.
The prosecutor in the case noted that the video showing the ballots being inserted is corroborated by survey reports and witness statements, confirming that both defendants placed ballots into the ballot box.
Rovshan Iskandarov is a member of Georgian Dream and a majority MP in the city council in Sadakhlo.
On October 26, the day of the parliamentary elections, a video recorded by an observer in the 69th precinct was circulated on social media, showing Rovshan Iskandarov placing ballots into the box. Another man is also seen in the video, assisting him in this illegal act.
Rovshan Iskandarov and his cousin were arrested by police on October 31. According to the prosecutor’s office, the investigation determined that on election day, the defendants placed fake ballots in the ballot box to falsify the election results, leading to the termination of the voting process at the precinct and the annulment of the voting results. They were charged under Article 164³ (Election Fraud) of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which carries a penalty of up to 2 years’ imprisonment.
