Group of independent lawyers echoes ECtHR decision on Shavadze case and calls upon the initiation of investigation against Vasil Roinishvili.

It is known to the public that on November 19, 2020, ECtHR has published a decision on Shavadze v. Georgia in which Georgia was found in breach of art. 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to life) in procedural and substantive limb.  

The case concerned the murder of former military official, Roin Shavadze by representatives of law enforcement officers in 2008 and the ineffective investigation of  this case.  

The investigation of this case was supervised by prosecutor of Adjara Autonomous republic – Vasil Roinishvili, in the course of which the rights of the victim were gravely violated. Despite many requests, the victim was not given the procedural status and no access to the case files. According to the victim, Vasil Roinishvili has exercised pressure on her and requested her to be silent.  

We would like to remind to the public that Vasil Roinishvili is a current member of the clan operating in the judiciary. He was implicated in the pressure of Supreme Court Judge Lali Lazarashvili and politically motivated unlawful court decision against Bank Kartu.  

On May 29, 2020 Vasil Roinishvili was elected as a member of Constitutional Court and on June 25 was elected as a deputy Chief Justice. This proves that the common court system of Georgia as well as Constitutional Court finds itself in the hands of the same persons, which forced judges towards political obedience and execution of political orders. This shows that radical and substantive reforms need to be carried out for the elimination of clan based governance and formation of independent judiciary.  

Based on the above mentioned, the Group of Independent Lawyers calls upon prosecutors office of Georgia to initiate the investigation and establish the role of Vasil Roinishvili in these cases .  

Group of Independent Lawyers is a group of legal practitioners and legal experts dedicated to the purpose of creation of healthy judicial system by way of public dialogue and advocacy.