Georgian authorities pay compensation to Vano Merabishvili

Vano Merabishvili, the former Georgian Minister of Interior Affairs, got compensation awarded under the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Georgian government reported on March 27. The ECtHR found that the preliminary arrest of the official had violated his rights.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2016, Vano Merabishvili was sentenced to 6 years and 9 months of imprisonment in the case on beating of MP Valery Gelashvili. The appeal against the sentence and the request for conditional early relief (CER) were dismissed. In prison, the health condition of Vano Merabishvili deteriorated, and he was brought to hospital several times.

The government of Georgia paid Vano Merabishvili 4000 euros of compensation awarded by the European Court of Human Rights. "On February 22, 2018, the compensation was paid within a three-month period provided by the ECtHR," reported Natiya Mikeladze, the parliamentary secretary of the government, as quoted today by the "Sputnik-Georgia".

On March 27, Natiya Mikeladze announced the above at a meeting of the parliamentary committee for the protection of human rights. The secretary also stated that the European Court had demanded from the Georgian authorities to resume the investigation into the night interrogation of Vano Merabishvili, for which he had been taken from prison in December 2013.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 28, 2019 at 01:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.