12:28, 20 June 2021

Rights defenders treat communication of Deacon Mamaladze's case to the ECtHR as belated

Giorgi Mamaladze. Screenshot of the video posted on the "GCSSI на русском" YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cppi2F1oL7o

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has begun considering the complaint of Deacon Giorgi Mamaladze about the closed nature of the trial in Georgia and the violation of the presumption of innocence. The convict needs urgent medical care, but this failed to speed up the communication on the case, the NGO "Centre for Social Justice" has regretted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Deacon Giorgi Mamaladze was found guilty of attempting to murder the secretary-assistant of the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church. In September 2017, the court sentenced him to nine years in prison.

Since February 2019, Mamaladze has been kept in the prison hospital. He is paralyzed on one side of his body and cannot walk on his own. In February-March 2020, Mamaladze's advocate was seeking his hospitalization and an adjournment of verdict enforcement, but the court concluded that the convict's health condition is no obstacle for his serving his sentence.

The ECtHR has protracted the communication of the case, although Mamaladze's health condition is grave and demands urgent intervention, Tamta Mikeladze, a lawyer, has stated.

A weapon and poison were found on Mamaladze at the Tbilisi Airport, from where he wanted to fly to the Catholicos-Patriarch Elias II, who was undergoing his treatment in Germany. According to the prosecutor's office, Mamaladze was going to poison the Patriarch.

Mamalazde continues insisting on his innocence, said David Djandieri, his advocate.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 19, 2021 at 04:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.