Political persecution is being pursued against a man who doesn’t even know what kind of politician he is himself.

The Personal Data Protection Service has found the "Vivamed" clinic and Nino Nadiradze guilty and ordered them to remove my X-ray photo from social media, said one of the leaders of the coalition "Strengthening Georgia," Aleko Elisashvili in the Tbilisi City Court.

According to him, today’s court hearing, where the substantive discussion of the case will take place, might lead to his arrest, but he believes that everything depends on the judge’s character and mood, as well as on what decision the "Georgian Dream" has made and what they instructed the judge to do.

“Today, there will be a substantive discussion of my case. I don’t know, although this is called a court, there is no justice. I don’t know, maybe they will arrest me today, or maybe they won’t. They might even bring a famous political figure, Ali Babaev, as a witness. I came here, ready not to return home. Everything will depend on the judge’s character and mood, and on what the 'Georgian Dream' decided and instructed the judge to do.

Even though the preventive measure was changed based on the prosecution’s motion, which happened on the 12th day of my detention, and it is related to the political process and the arrival of the Council of Europe delegation in Georgia, they are accusing me of political persecution. They are pursuing political persecution against a person who doesn’t even know what kind of politician he is. Giorgi Gakharia, who was beaten in Batumi, had a case opened under the charge of assault. So, Ali Babaev is a politician, but Giorgi Gakharia is not,” said Elisashvili.

He also talked about his transfer to "Vivamed" and mentioned that the Personal Data Protection Service had found the clinic "Vivamed" and Nino Nadiradze guilty and had ordered them to remove the X-ray photo from social media.

"As for 'Vivamed,' after my arrest, I had a broken rib. I was taken from the Dusheti isolation cell to 'Vivamed,' they took an X-ray and said there was nothing wrong. A month and a half later, I went to the hospital, and they told me I had a broken rib, not just bruising. 'Vivamed' hid this data, and when I publicly mentioned it, the strange woman, the director of 'Vivamed,' popped up and waved my X-ray photo, my personal information, thus violating my rights a second time. I then turned to the Personal Data Protection Service, and the clinic 'Vivamed' and Nadiradze were found guilty and ordered to remove my X-ray photo from their social media,” said Aleko Elisashvili.

For your information, Aleko Elisashvili has been charged under Article 156, Part 2, Subparagraph "a" of the Criminal Code of Georgia (political persecution related to political activities, committed with violence), which carries a penalty of up to three years of imprisonment.

He has been released on a 4,000 GEL bail.

The incident occurred on December 2. According to the prosecution, Aleko Elisashvili verbally and physically assaulted the Chairman of the Azerbaijan National Congress and one of the founders of the "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" party, Ali Babaev, based on political grounds, in the area around Kostava Street in Tbilisi.