Elene Khoshtaria: "I refuse to defend myself, I refuse to appear in court"

The leader of the Georgian opposition party "Droa!" and member of the "Coalition for Change" Elene Khoshtaria, who is in custody, announced that she does not intend to attend the court hearings on her case and refuses to defend herself.

According to the politician, she does not want to "participate in a farce and lies." Khoshtaria also emphasized that her decision is related to the issue of self-respect, and asked her supporters "not to bother themselves" and not to come to court.

Koshtaria said that in the pretrial detention center a "clean-shaven man" came to her and "in all seriousness" read her the guilt, turning into a "bolt of the Russian system."

"Accordingly, I refuse to defend myself, I refuse to appear in court and ask everyone not to bother themselves and not to go there. And let them sew [the case], cut it out, write it and read it. Many thanks to my lawyer Shota Tutberidze, who followed this extraordinary form. Until the end! ", - wrote the oppositionist.

Recall that on September 15, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported the detention of the leader of the Droa! party and member of the Coalition for Change, Elene Khoshtaria. The agency notes that an investigation has been opened against her under Article 187 of the Criminal Code, which provides for punishment for damage to or destruction of property. The maximum penalty for this article is imprisonment for up to five years.

According to the investigation, on September 14 in Tbilisi, at the election headquarters of the mayoral candidate from the ruling party Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia Kakha Kaladze, the accused damaged his banners.

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