Yesterday, Mirian Arabidze, a victim of a mob attack on a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Gldani district of Tbilisi, was fully exonerated by Georgia’s highest court. The three-member body of the Chamber for Criminal cases of the Supreme Court needed only moments after hearing arguments and viewing video footage of the attack to render its decision. Two years ago, Mirian Arabidze along with more than 100 fellow believers were attacked and beaten with clubs and iron crosses by a mob of some 200 religious extremists led by defrocked Orthodox priest Vasili Mkalavishvili. Within weeks, Arabidze was falsely charged and convicted on the charge of "hooliganism."
The ruling annulled the conviction handed down by the judge of the court of first instance, as well as the decision of the appeal court to send the matter back for further investigation. Although all evidence, including videotape footage, clearly showed that Mr. Arabidze was a victim of the October 17, 1999 Gldani mob attack, the investigator nevertheless charged him while refusing to charge those responsible for the attack. Various governments, Human Rights Organizations, and the News Media have stated that the case gave the distinct impression that the Police and Prosecutor’s Office are cooperating with the religious extremists who carried out the attack. The issue of prosecuting the authors of the 1999 Gldani attack is presently before the European Court of Human Rights.