Heaviest pressure exerted on the judges - Nika Gvaramia

Nika Gvaramia, General Director of Rustavi 2 TV Company claims that the judges presiding over the Rustavi 2 case were told either to withdraw their application on pressure from the Prosecutor's Office or to change the names of those accused of pressure. 

As Gvaramia said at the press conference today, all branches, expect for the President, are involved in the criminal activity against the judges. "For the first time in the history of Georgia we are dealing with a case when Supreme Court judges expose the system from the inside and speak about pressure exerted on them,” Gvaramia said.

According to him, he had intentionally remained silent on the issue until the final voting on visa liberalization has held, as the European Parliament is very sensitive towards the issue concerning the freedom of the media and court. 

“Today, when this process is completed, we are making this statement and are asking the Supreme Court Chairman of why he did not act like his predecessor and did not publicize important information? - It's a rhetorical question, as far as we know the answer – the Chairman of Supreme Court is not an ally of the judges. He is an ally of the government against them. He sent the case to the Prosecutor's Office and from the next day the heaviest pressure was exerted on the judges. They were requested either to withdraw their application on pressure from the Prosecutor's Office to change the names of those accused of pressure. In particular, they were requested to name not the representatives of the government, but the persons allegedly associated with us, such as 3rd President Mikheil Saakashvili and his political co-thinkers,” Gvaramia said.