Lawyer, civil law specialist and business advisor Gvantsa Zhorzholiani spoke about the rights of persons under administrative detention in the "Your rights with Gvantsa Zhorzholiani" program in air of the Commersant radio station.
First of all, she outlined her own position regarding the so-called Russian law.
“Georgia is at a very important stage. This is an election year and, on the other hand, the EU is standing at crossroads. I believe that the bill consideration by Parliament is not timely and inappropriate at this stage.
As a lawyer, I’d like to remind the government that the people are the ultimate source of authority. The constitution begins with these words, therefore the government is obliged to carry out the will of the people they serve", Gvantsa Zhorzholiani says.
According to Zhorzholiani, about 65 people were arrested at the protest rally on April 30, and about 40 people were detained on May 1.
The lawyer explains that there are two types of detention: administrative and criminal.
“When making an administrative arrest, a citizen must first find out the identity of the police officer who is acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. As a rule, the police officer must wear a uniform, but if he doesn’t wear it, the citizen is required to know the first and last name of the person making the arrest.
A law enforcement official should be asked to turn on the badge camera. If the arrest is made by a law enforcement officer who does not have a body camera, a citizen has the legal right to film the arrest. If he can't do it, he can ask someone to make a video. For example, an accompanying person, a friend, even a passer-by,” Gvantsa Zhorzholiani explains.
She believes that it is important to know the rights when a police officer wants to search a citizen during an administrative arrest.
“The most important thing that a citizen should know is that during an arrest, a police officer has the right to conduct a search only superficially, that is, touch clothing with his hands or use a special detector.
If a warrant search of a citizen is conducted, the citizen must request an appropriate court order to search a person, to seize a specific item, or an investigator's order, in case of extreme necessity. If they ask to open the bag, the citizen must open the bag himself, the policeman has no right to check the bag with his hands and touch the citizen's belongings," the lawyer notes.
"A citizen should find out what he is charged with and on what grounds he is being detained. When a citizen is transferred to a temporary detention facility and he is injured, he has the right to ask for medical assistance. He also has the right to hire a lawyer and make a telephone call. A citizen has the right to make as many calls as he wants, until contact is made with any person he wants.
The police are required to bring the arrested citizen to the court within 24 hours. And if, after this time, the police sent a notification to the court that another 24 hours are needed to keep the citizen in the temporary detention facility, in this case the citizen must stay in the temporary detention facility for no more than 48 hours.
If during this time the court hearing did not take place and he was not convicted or acquitted, the law enforcement agency is obliged to immediately release the citizen,” the lawyer points out.
