On February 23, a judge closed the court hearing of eight opposition politicians in the so-called sabotage case.

“At this moment, the judge has closed the hearing to both the media and NGO observers simply because lawyer Beka Basilaia told the judge, ‘Please stop banging that gavel back and forth,” wrote lawyer Tamta Kakhidze.

The opposition politicians — Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze — are accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of assisting a foreign country in hostile activities, financing activities directed against the constitutional order and national security, and calling for the overthrow of the state government.

It should be noted that due to restrictive laws, the media already faces obstacles in covering court hearings. Fully closing the hearings creates an informational vacuum.