The Strasbourg Court has commenced the substantive examination of "Mtivlishvili v. Georgia," a case concerning all four articles of the European Convention that the journalist is challenging. Gela Mtivlishvili accuses the Georgian government of violating Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 10 (freedom of expression) and 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) of the Convention.
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Gela Mtivlishvili, the editor-in-chief of Mtis Ambebi/Georgian News, was detained by police on January 23, 2024, on Kekelidze Street in Tbilisi. He had gone there to cover the eviction of the Khatiashvili family and the violence that the police committed against demonstrators and journalists.
Upon arrival at Kekelidze Street, Mtivlishvili was arrested on the orders of Ramaz Tatarashvili, Deputy Head of the Vake-Saburtalo Main Division of the Tbilisi Police Department.
Tatarashvili himself took part in the illegal detention of the journalist, along with three other police officers.
After the arrest, the Interior Ministry employees physically assaulted the journalist and tried to choke him. They attempted to seize his phone, with which Gela Mtivlishvili had filmed his own illegal arrest. The video footage shows that the police officers were forcibly detaining Mtivlishvili. He told the police three times that he was a journalist and warned them not to obstruct his professional activities.
The journalist was detained at the police station for 6 hours, after which he was released on his own recognisance.
Two days after his arrest, the police drew up an administrative offence report against him, accusing the journalist of disobeying a lawful order.
During the court hearing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs presented evidence in the form of a video taken during the eviction of the Khatiashvili family on Kekelidze Street. However, Gela Mtivlishvili was not on Kekelidze Street at that time.
Judge Nino Shcherbakov accepted the false testimony of one of the arresting police officers, Anri Pkhakadze.
At the hearing, the police officer said that Mtivlishvili cursed at them, loudly called them slaves, interfered with their work, and tried to "rip off" one of the arrested persons from the four police officers.
In fact, the journalist did not interfere with the police officers’ work and did not communicate with them. He kept a distance of several metres from the police and filmed the arrest of one of the demonstrators, during which he was also arrested.
The journalist's witness confirmed in the court that Mtivlishvili did not interact with the police.
Judge Shcherbakov, known for his government-favouring, biased decisions against journalists and civil activists, found Gela Mtivlishvili guilty of an administrative offence and fined him 2,000 GEL. The journalist appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, but the appellate court affirmed the original decision.
On the day of his arrest, the journalist appealed to the Special Investigation Service regarding illegal detention, interference in journalistic activities, and physical violence. The investigation obtained a video recording from the surveillance system of the currency exchange booth on Kekelidze Street, which proves Mtivlishvili's innocence.
A witness, who was also detained and was in the police car with Mtivlishvili, confirmed to the Special Investigation Service that the police officers physically assaulted the journalist.
The Prosecutor General's Office granted Gela Mtivlishvili victim status five months after the investigation began.
Gela Mtivlishvili is demanding the dismissal and criminal prosecution of the four police officers who illegally detained him, obstructed his journalistic work, and physically assaulted him in a police car. However,
Ramaz Tatarashvili was subsequently promoted, first serving as Head of the Vake-Saburtalo Main Division, and now holding the post of Director of the Imereti Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Mtivlishvili has filed a complaint against the police officers with the prosecutor's office over their false testimony to the court. The journalist considers the decisions of both instances of the Georgian court to fine him illegal.
Gela Mtivlishvili attributes the illegal detention and police aggression to verbal attacks by leading government officials, Shalva Papuashvili and Irakli Kobakhidze, following the publication of the journalistic investigation - the Shovi tragedy. He, therefore, disputes the violation of Article 18 of the Convention and states that his deprivation of liberty had a hidden purpose.
The journalist appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in August 2024. He is receiving legal support from the Centre for Social Justice.
