Georgia ombudsman says most court rulings on protest detainees justified

Georgia’s Public Defender (Ombudsman) Levan Ioseliani has said that court rulings in most cases involving people detained during the November–December 2024 protests were justified.

Ioseliani stated that while some cases revealed problems, a review of many proceedings showed that courts had issued justified decisions and that evidence had generally been collected in line with required standards, Caliber.Az reports per Georgian media. 

Protests in Georgia began on November 28, 2024, initially escalating into daily riots and clashes with police.

The ombudsman’s office examined the cases of 19 convicted individuals, he added. Three were acquitted due to the absence of neutral evidence, while the cases of three other convicts were sent to the court of appeal. In addition, conclusions were submitted in another set of cases pointing to various procedural violations. In the remaining 16 cases, however, no such violations were identified.

Ioseliani also said he supports a more humane approach in such situations, including the broader use of pardons. He noted that this mechanism should be applied not only in individual cases, but more widely, potentially covering around 10,000 convicted and accused persons across Georgia.

By Sabina Mammadli