The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that the Georgian Supreme Court denied former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava a fair trial when it ruled on his arrest in 2020. Specifically, the Court said the Supreme Court violated Ugulava's right to an impartial tribunal, as guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, by including Shalva Tadumadze, who was Georgia's chief prosecutor when Mr. Ugulava was initially charged, on a three-judge panel.
At the same time, the ECHR rejected Ugulava's additional complaint about the legality of the trial proceedings.
In 2020, a three-member panel of the Supreme Court, including former Prosecutor General and Supreme Court Judge Shalva Tadumadze and two other judges, convicted Gigi Ugulava, who was then a prominent figure in the opposition party European Georgia. The judges found him guilty of misusing GEL 48 million in public funds from the Tbilisi Development Fund during his tenure as mayor and sentenced him to three years and two months in prison.
The ECHR argued that the inclusion of Tadumadze called into question the "objective impartiality" of the court.
The ECHR noted that Tadumadze was in charge of the Georgian Prosecutor's Office during the consideration of Ugulava's case by the Georgian Court of Appeals and during the decision of the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office to appeal on points of law.
The ECHR concluded that Tadumadze must have been aware of the prosecutor's plan against Ugulava, given the hierarchical structure of the office, with all prosecutors reporting to Tadumadze.
Tadumadze had previously served as Bidzina Ivanishvili's lawyer and as head of the state administration. Critics have argued that his appointment to the Supreme Court represents what many call "state capture" - a takeover of state institutions by the oligarch and his network.
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