Okruashvili's suit against Georgia accepted for consideration in Strasbourg

The European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg has accepted for proceedings the complaint lodged by former Minister of Defence of Georgia Irakliy Okruashvili, in which he protests against his arrest and subsequent court verdict.

Eka Beseliya, Okruashvili's advocate and member of the same party, had applied to the Strasburg Court on his behalf.

"The European Court has confirmed that the application has been accepted in its letter. The Court has additionally requested a copy in the German language of the decisions of the Berlin Supreme Court dated December 3, 2007, and of the Schoenenberg Court of the first instance dated February 19, 2008, which will be sent to Strasburg one of these days," Ms Beseliya said as quoted by the GHN Agency.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 28, 2008, a judge of the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Irakliy Okruashvili in absentia to 11 years of deprivation of liberty. Mr Okruashvili was found guilty of extortion of shares in the cellular communication company named GeoSell.

Eka Beseliya, who was Irakliy Okruashvili's advocate in the case, told journalists that "the decision of the court was politically motivated."