Sagrishvili: defence witnesses are not admitted to trial of Georgians on espionage in favour of Russia

The court in Batumi, which considers the case of espionage in favour of Russian secret services, would not admit defence witnesses, said lawyer Gocha Sagrishvili, who is defending four accused persons at the trial. According to his story, he does not consider the case "through the political prism", but believes that the investigation is conducted with violations of law and human rights. Another lawyer - Gela Nikoleishvili - supports this opinion.

Four out of the six detained military pilots from the helicopter regiment agreed to conclude the so-called "procedural agreement with the inquiry", were released from custody and now act as witnesses at the litigation.

Lawyer Gocha Sagrishvili, who is representing detainees Abashidze, Kikabidze Meskhidze and Diasamidze, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the defendants are tried under the old Criminal Code of Georgia, who is no longer valid after October 1, 2010.

Mr Sagrishvili also noted that all the 23 witnesses at the trial were summoned by the prosecution party and all of them are counterintelligence officers who gave same evidences: they detected flash memory devices during searches.

In his turn, Ismail Abashidze, father of one of the defendants, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that during the search he and his wife were not at home. "But it is interesting in this regard that all the defendants had allegedly recorded secret information on computer chips; and all the chips were found in houses hidden behind icons," said Ismail Abashidze.

Lawyer Sagrishvili asserts that all the chips recorded almost one the same information.

Iamze Abashidze, the wife of another defendant, said that she was present during the search and carefully watched the secret agents who conducted the search. She said that one of them was all the time talking on a cell phone; and she clearly heard in his conversation that they had found nothing in Kikabidze's house. "The guy with the telephone ordered to find, and five minutes later I heard that a memory chip was found behind St Giorgi's icon," said Iamze Abashidze.

Another lawyer - Gela Nikoleishvili - also confirmed that USB memory sticks were found as evidences of the crime on all the pilots; however, in one case the stick was in the pocket of wife's gown, and in the rest of the cases - under the icons, but data on flash memories was different.

One more advocate - Nana Tsuladze, who is defending the interests of two citizens of Armenian origin, - refused to talk with reporters, referring to the fact that the case is closed, and it is not in the interests of her clients to disclose any information.

The prosecution party remains unavailable for comments.

Lawyer Gela Nikoleishvili said that the hearing will continue on June 7; however, he did not expect any shifts towards justice, as he believes that the authorities had lifted the case to the level "of sustainability of their regime."