TBILISI, December 18 – Georgian prosecutors on Thursday, December 18, leaned on a long, continuous video recording as a key piece of evidence in court proceedings tied to the events of October 4 in Tbilisi.
In the October 4 case, prosecutor Tamar Bezhuashvili said the state has reviewed an “approximately 8-hour continuous video” that, she claimed, shows calls by organizers to overthrow the state authorities and depicts violent actions during what the prosecution describes as a “storming” of the presidential palace.
The same day, Tbilisi City Court also heard a separate case involving Levan Khabeishvili, political council chairman of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), and opposition politician and former prosecutor Murtaz Zodelava. According to the prosecutor’s opening statement in that case, Khabeishvili is accused of promising money to public officials to induce unlawful conduct and also faces a charge related to publicly calling for the overthrow of state authority.
Prosecutors said their case points to statements Khabeishvili made on television, alleging he repeatedly promised law enforcement officers USD 200,000 if they refused “training and exercises,” and also made public promises of large sums to officials.
Zodelava, prosecutors said, is accused of unlawfully interfering in the work of a State Security Service anti-corruption investigator and attempting to hide a mobile phone during a search authorized by a court.
Khabeishvili rejected the idea that political statements could be treated as bribery, and his lawyer, Giorgi Kondakhishvili, described the criminal case as an instrument of illegal persecution and retaliation, arguing that an election promise is not the same as a bribe.
