Tbilisi Mayor not sentensed to detention

After the five hour hearing, Judge Dali Metreveli did not grant the Chief Prosecutors motion for pre-trial detention and sentenced Tbilisi City Mayor Gigi Ugulava with a 50 thousand GEL fine.

"Despite being sentenced to a fine, the fight still continues, Ugulava commented after leaving the courtroom. He said the Chief Prosecutors arguments were absolutely unjust and the court has been under pressure. According to him, the key witnesses in the case have been people who moved from the UNM to the Georgian Dream: Nikoloz Khachirishvili, Gia Rapava, and Nino Tevdoradze.

"They gave false testimonies as if I held a meeting and promised financial benefits for a particular favor. This is a lie. If they have questions, I am here but when you treat your political opponent in this way when the Elections are coming in five months, this is not good for the country, Ugulava added.

The other representatives of the United National Movement, David Bakradze, Giorgi Vashadze, Giorgi Gabashvili, and Zura Chiaberashvili, were supporting Ugulava during the court hearings and expressed their satisfaction with the court decision. They said that this was the only logical decision and the court passed an important test today through not falling under the pressure.

However, the Prosecutors Office appealed to the court with two motions. First, the Chief Prosecutor demanded the Mayor to be imprisoned and second, suspended from his authority.The courts decision on the second motion has not been made at this time. Ugulava said he is not aware of what the court will do regarding the suspension of his authority.  

According to the lawyer of the mayor, Giorgi Gelkhauri, the Prosecutors motion about suspension of Ugulavas authority will be heard by other judge. Gelkhauri said he does not know when this will happen but hopes that the defense will have possibility to participate in hearings.  

The next hearing is scheduled for February 5.

Prior to this, the Prosecutors Office will appeal the courts decision. The statement was made by the prosecutor Irakli Nadareishvili today, after the end of the court hearing. He said that he presented sufficient arguments for Ugulava to be sentenced to imprisonment by the court.  

Ugulava was charged with embezzlement funds from the Tbilisis Developing Fund, established in 2010 for the capitals rehabilitation. The money was misspent with the assistance of five other high officials of Tbilisi City Hall, to fund the United National Movements interests in the Parliamentary Elections 2012. The misspent funds amounted for 48 million GEL (28 million USD).