Georgia’s fifth president condemns ‘Russian-style justice’ over trial of pro-European protesters

Georgia’s fifth President, Salome Zourabichvili, has accused the country’s courts of rushing politically motivated verdicts against detainees she described as “prisoners of conscience.”

In a post on social media Tuesday, Zourabichvili said political leaders had allegedly instructed judges to deliver convictions without credible evidence. “No evidence, no convincing charges, and yet judges are being given orders in public. This is Russian-style ‘justice’,” she wrote.

Zourabichvili attended a hearing at Tbilisi City Court, where 11 people are standing trial on charges of group violence during rallies against the Georgian Dream government’s decision late last year to delay the country’s EU integration until 2028.