Persecution History of the Judge, Who Was First to Pass Non-Guilty Verdict

Saba Tsitsikashvili, Gori

Former judge of Gori District Court Kartlos Sulaberidze almost completely served his 4-year-imprisonment till 2012. He was twice arrested after Rose Revolution – first for professional negligence and then for the bribery of a witness.

He claims criminal prosecution started against him after he was first judge in Georgia who passed non-guilty judgment since Rose Revolution. He said initially his neighbor from the village and former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili started persecution against him and then former prosecutor general Zurab Adeishvili continued his intimidation.

Episode 1 – Verdict Passed in Favor of Victims

“I was the judge, who passed first non-guilty verdict in Georgia,” Kartlos Sulaberidze said and recalled all the problems he had faced for that reason.

Sulaberidze said Irakli Okruashvili created first problems for him. “Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili actively interfered in the activities of judges. His one word was enough to fire judge from court,” Sulaberidze said.

For instance, in 2004, Kartlos Sulaberidze passed judgment in favor of the market-owners when the latter was assigned to the state. One of the owners of the market, late Temur Bluashvili gave his property to the state during imprisonment. Other share-holders claimed the document was to be annuled because the property was assigned without their content. Sulaberidze upheld the appeal statement of the market owners and their lawyer Gogita Gabaidze. 

According to Sulaberidze, this decision irritated Irakli Okruashvili.

“Court Chairman Bondo Vatiashvili told me Okruashvili had called and requested to dismiss Judge Sulabneridze”.  I replied: “Let the empty headed minister think off his words, nobody asks him about my resignation,” Sulaberidze recalled.

After a while, Aleko Sukhitashvili, head of regional police department, called the judge: “Chief police officer Sukhitashvili called me and to my surprise he also requested me to write resignation letter,” Sulaberidze said.

Bondo Vatiashvili, former chairman of Gori court states that there were no needs for Irakli Okruashvili to connect Kartlos Sulaberidze via mediator: “if Okruashvili wanted anything, he would have called him personally,” Vatiashvili said.

According to Sulaberidze, after the market case, he asked Bondo Vatiashvili not to involve him in the cases which were interesting for the National Movement.

We tried to get Irakli Okruashvili’s comment on this issue but we could not get in touch with him.

Episode 2 – not guilty verdict in favor of the accused in assassination

Since 2005, judges started to refrain from passing non-guilty verdicts fearing the reforms of the Supreme Council of Justice. President Saakashvili launched zero tolerance with slogan “everyone in prison”.

In 2005, judge Sulaberidze found the accused in assassination not guilty. The Appeal Court upheld the judgments twice but the Supreme Court forwarded the case back to lower courts for having discovered minor shortcomings in it.

After the non-guilty verdict, in April of 2005, head of Council of Justice Valeri Tsertsvadze sent 11-member commission to Gori court and started one-month inspection of judgments passed by Kartlos Sulaberidze.

Finally, on July 21 of 2005, Supreme Council of Justice stopped Sulaberidze’s authority. It is interesting, that the Council’s decision was delivered to the Gori court later, so the judge still continued discussing cases. As for the cases which had already taken up, Sulaberidze had to finish them because of limited time at the court.

Giorgi Tsertsvadze occupied the position of the Prosecutor at the Gori Prosecutor’s Office in 2005 and he is a brother of the chairman of Supreme Council of Justice.

“That time general prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili was involved in my dismissal from the job. Later he demanded me to resign with the support of prosecutors and then he personally requested me. I refused to quit because I could not believe the general prosecutor could not do similar things,” Kartlos Sulaberidze said.

Episode 3- Case of the Prisoner without Documents

Authority of Kartlos Sulaberidze discontinued on July 21 of 2005. On December 8 of 2005, representatives of chief prosecutor’s office discovered a prisoner in Ortachala prison’s medical institution, and there was no arrest order in his private affair.

Elza Berianidze, representative from chief prosecutor’s office discovered this prisoner. Berianidze thought that Gori court might know this case. He connected to the chairman of Gori court. Vatiashvili answered on phone and said that case of this prisoner is discussing judge of Gori court, Gocha Gogitashvili.

On December 8 of 2005, representatives of the Gori court chancellery “searched” the working room of Judge Kartlos Sulaberidze and discovered the resolution related with the prisoner who was placed in Ortachala prison without documents (meaning case materials of the prisoner did not contain judge’s resolution or any other decision paper).

Kartlos Sulaberidze learned this fact in October of 2006 when he was summoned to the prosecutor’s office and charged for professional negligence. Having discovered the prisoner without documents, the General Prosecutor launched a case and carried out investigation almost one year.

First, chairman of Gori District Court Bondo Vatiashvili sentenced the document-less prisoner to pretrial detention in 2003. Later, Kartlos Sulaberidze was put in charge to substantially discuss the prisoner’s case. On August 27, 2003, Judge Sulaberidze requested to place the prisoner in Poti Psychiatric Hospital in his resolution and stated that during pretrial detention the prisoner acquire psychiatric problems and it was impossible to interrogate him. Consequently, Kartlos Sulaberidze sent him to Poti to take compulsory treatment.

There was a question why the prisoner, sent to Poti, remained in Tbilisi Ortachala prison? Case materials show that head of Poti Psychiatric Hospital Devdarian sent the prisoner initially to Zugdidi prison and then to Ortachala prison.

General Prosecutor’s Office relied on the search protocol of Sulaberidze’s working room. According to that protocol, Judge Sulaberidze knew that the prisoner had recovered and did not take relevant measures to discharge him from Poti Psychiatric Hospital. Kartlos Sulerbidze clarified this fact as follows:

“When I decided to place the convicted in the Poti Psychiatric Hospital on August 27, 2003, I left the case materials at the chancellery. Afterwards I had no connection with that case. Two years later, on December 8, 2005 General Prosecutor’s Office visited the prisoner in Tbilisi Jail Hospital # 5 and could not discover judgments in his case. In fact, the prisoner illegally served imprisonment in Ortachala prison,” said Sulaberidze and added that he does not know how and why the prisoner was placed in Ortachala prison.

Kartlos Sulaberidze believes the Prosecutor’s Office tried to connect the document-less prisoner with him.

According to Suleberidze, the December 8, 2005 search protocol of Kartlos Suleberidze’s working room prepared by the employees of Gori District Court’s chancellery. The protocol also states that a letter from Poti Psychiatric Hospital was discovered on Sulaberidze’s former working table. The letter was about the prisoner’s health conditions. According to investigation materials, Kartlos Sulaberidze had information about the prisoner’s recovery but did not release relevant resolution to discharge him from the psychiatric hospital.

Kartlos Sulaberidze claims the court employees implemented Bondo Vatiashvili’s instructions and put the letter from Poti psychiatric hospital in his former working room.

“When they searched my working room, my authority was already suspended. I did not have the key to that room and the new judge was using it. The content of the search protocol is absurd,” Sulaberidze claims.

How did the letter appear in the working room? Investigation interrogated Sulaberidze’s former assistant Zaza Matoshvili to answer this question. Matoshvili said he had brought the case materials of the prisoner to the judge’s working room based on Sulaberidze’s order. “Judge Kartlos Sulaberidze asked me to bring the case materials from the chancellery and to make some notes in the resolution,” Zaza Matoshvili wrote in the testimony. The resolution requests to destroy the knife that was proof in the case.

“Who has right to introduce changes in the resolution which was signed by me? Besides, proofs are not destroyed in similar cases because the person might recover and the case can be reconsidered. Why did I hand the case to the chancellery unless I had not finished it? Or how did the chancellery accept the case if it was not finished; moreover, the head of chancellery had signed the appeal statement to the Poti Psychiatric Hospital. Why did I allow my assistant to add something to the resolution by ordinary pen?” the former judge wondered.

Later, General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia passed conclusion on the Judge Kartlos Sulaberidze and found him guilty. Sulaberidze was charged under Article 342 Part II of the Criminal Code of Georgia that is professional negligence.

Finally, plea-agreement was signed on the charge that was imposed on him in 2006. The judge was sent to two-year-imprisonment and imposed 10 000 lari fine on him.

Kartlos Sulaberidze said he had no other way but singing the plea-agreement because his family was in grave conditions.

“Personally Zurab Adeishvili demanded me to sign plea-agreement and I had no other way too,” Kartlos Sulaberidze said. He was going to pay the fine with the harvest from his village and honorarium paid for legal consultations.

Episode 4 – Imprisonment with 72-Year-Old Man

Two years later, the former judge was representing citizens at the trials. During one of the proceedings he was arrested for allegedly having intimidated the victims to change testimonies. Other lawyers were also arrested together with him but all others were released under bail except Kartlos Sulaberidze.

Kartlos Sulaberidze was protecting accused Demur Kristesiashvili together with the lawyers Zurab Midodashvili and Zaza Svianadze; Kristesashvili was accused of fraudulent obtaining of cell phone.

Judge Mamia Pkhadze was leading the trial. Giorgi Romelashvili was the victim in the case.

The price of the cell-phone caused disagreement at the hearing. The victim said that he had sold the cell phone to Kristesiashvili for 150 lari and the defense lawyers also confirmed it.

72-year-old father-in-law of the accused person Giorgi Gambashidze was interrogated at the trial as a witness. He also said that the cell phone cost 150 lari whilst the phone was charged 160 lari during the preliminary investigation.

Since according to the law misappropriation or the damage of property with the value of over 150 lari is considered to be the grave damage, Sulaberidze claims the prosecutor’s office and judge demanded to estimate the exact price of the cell phone. Since the parties lowered the price at 10 lari and thus changed the charge into slight damage, judge immediately charged the victim Romelashvili for changed testimony and defense lawyers for the oppression on the witnesses. Prosecutor’s Office alleged the defense lawyers had compelled the victim to change the testimony.

Sulaberidze was judged under Article 372 (bribing or compulsion of witness, plaintiff) and sentenced to 4-year-imprisonment and 10 000 lari fine. The Judge released all others under bail expect Sulaberidze.

“I served my term in the closed prison. 57 inmates served our terms in the cell for 17 people. I spent four years in the cell which we left only once per week to have a walk; everything happened to intimidate the judges with my example. I fully served my term,” Kartlos Sulaberidze said.

The former judge requests to start criminal prosecution against Zurab Adeishvili, judges Mamia Pkhakadze, Ketevan Jachvadze and Tetrauli because of his imprisonment because as Sulaberidze claims he spent many years in illegal imprisonment because of their decisions.