Bitsadze to be detained after bail deadline expires

The Burjanadze-Bitsadze issue is still very much on the Georgian agenda. Two weeks after the deadline for Badri Bitsadze, former Chief of Border Police and husband of one of the leaders of the May street protest rallies Nino Burjanadze, to post GEL 100,000 bail, the prosecutor’s office requested the court on June 20 to impose pre-trial dentition for him. The Tbilisi City Court said late on June 20 that it had ruled in favor of the prosecutor’s request.

Initially, Bitsadze, who had not been arrested, was charged by the Prosecutor’s Office on May 30 with spearheading attacks on policemen by an organized group. On June 1 the prosecutor’s office requested GEL 100,000 bail for Bitsadze to be paid within seven days; no bail has been paid. Burjanadze stated that she was not going to pay for her husband. Moreover, she underlined that she was not aware of her husband’s whereabouts and made it clear from the very beginning that was not intending to pay any bail. She strongly denied charges brought against her husband, claiming that they were fabricated.

“The accused or somebody with his name has not brought bail on time, that is why solicitation has been satisfied and this form of punishment has been replaced with imprisonment, “the statement released by the court reads. Based of the Deputy Prosecutor, Davit Sakvarelidze, “we have appealed to the court as bail conditions have been violated by Badri Bitsadze.”

Unlike to Prosecutor’s Office solicitation, the court did not satisfy the petition of the lawyer of Bitsadze, Levan Samushia, who has appealed to the court not to concur with the Prosecutor, “our petition was based on the fact that from the beginning the rights of Badri Bitsadze were violated. He was accused by participation of fiscal lawyer, when I have already been involved in the case. At the same time there is no proof of his alleged crime. Neither of them are backed by any proof, “ Samushia, said.

As for Bitsadze himself, his whereabouts are still unclear but it seems he does not intend to return. According to the Chair of non government organization Public Defender, Manana Kobakhidze, Bitsadze’s action is in the frame of logic, “ when a man does not believe in a just court, it is very logical that he avoids appearing at the court. Unfortunately, currently, a lot of people have fled from Georgia as they have no hope of an impartial court.”