**European Court Finds Georgia at Fault in “Cable Case”**
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against Georgia in a case known as the “cable case”. The court found that the country had violated human rights law by not giving five former officials a fair trial.
The case involved five former Defense Ministry and General Staff officials who were charged with misspending money on laying fiber-optic cable. They denied the charges, but were initially sentenced to seven years in prison. Later, their sentence was reduced to one year and six months after the charges were reclassified as abuse of office.
However, the applicants claimed that they had not been given a chance to defend themselves against the new charges. The Supreme Court refused to let them appeal, and only President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s pardon allowed them to be released in 2017.
Despite being freed, the former officials took their case to the ECtHR. They argued that their trial had been unfair due to the sudden reclassification of charges and the withholding of key prosecution evidence.
**ECtHR Ruling**
The ECtHR agreed with the applicants, finding that Georgia had violated their right to a fair trial under Article 6 § 1 and 3 (a) and (b) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court cited procedural unfairness in the reclassification of charges without an opportunity for a defense and the non-disclosure of key forensic evidence.
The case was represented by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, which had already deemed the case politically motivated and the defendants not guilty due to a lack of evidence.
**Background**
The “cable case” had led to a major split within Georgia’s ruling coalition and the firing of Defense Minister Irakli Alasania in 2016. The rift resulted in Alasania’s party leaving the coalition.
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