Former MP Gogi Tsulaia, Sexual Violence Case Shows Signs of Political Motivation
22 opposition groups, including almost all major parties, said on April 22 that the pretrial detention of former MP Gogi Tsulaia in the sexual violence case against him shows signs of “selective justice and a political motive of the Government.”
The opposition parties argued the political motive is made
clear by the fact that the said restraint measure is “practically never” used
in other similar cases.
“We take any accusations of violence against women very
seriously,” the opposition parties stated, claiming however Tsulaia is actually
being punished for verbal insults made against Georgian Dream founder Bidzina
Ivanishvili’s son, Bera, in the wake of the covert recordings controversy.
The recordings, deplored publicly by Tsulaia shortly before
his March 17 arrest, implicated Bera Ivanishvili in tasking Anzor Chubinidze,
currently the Head of the Special State Protection Service, to humiliate and
punish youngsters for online posts insulting the Ivanishvili family. In a
separate recording, Irakli Garibashvili, current Prime Minister, seemed
informed of the actions. Later, Bera Ivanishvili did not deny the authenticity
of the tapes, and said they were from 2011.
Tsulaia was initially detained under Article 126 (1) of the
Criminal Code of Georgia, involving violence, however, the Prosecutor’s Office
changed the charges to Article 138 (1), covering sexual violence acts other
than rape, punishable by a prison term of four to six years. The prosecution
said that Tsulaia made sexual advances against a female acquaintance, who ended
up injured after resisting.
Opposition parties said Tsulaia’s detention “confirms” that
the Georgian Dream Government “serves the personal interests of the oligarch’s
[Ivanishvili’s] family, and is ready to become a weapon of vengeance in the
hands of the family members.”
The signatories of the statement initially included the
United National Movement, European Georgia, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Girchi –
More Freedom, Labor and Lelo for Georgia, among others. Lelo later said that
their signature was included falsely, distancing from the joint statement.
Baia Pataraia, head of prominent women’s rights organization
Sapari, decried the opposition statement as “horrible,” stressing that charges
against Tsulaia are substantiated by evidence, including a recording of the
former MP admitting his guilt. Pataraia also rebuffed the opposition’s claim
that pretrial detention is not used in sexual violence cases.
“This statement is misogynistic and discriminatory against
women victims… I am very disappointed,” Pataraia highlighted.
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