The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers expressed concern over the “the level of diligence, thoroughness and promptness” of the investigation into the European Convention on Human Rights violation against Vano Merabishvili.

The statement of the Council of Europe referred to the 2013 pretrial detention of Vano Merabishvili, which the European Court of Human Rights found to be in violation of Articles 18 and 5(1), involving limitation on use of restrictions on rights and right to liberty and security.

The Council of Europe’s member states’ Deputy Foreign Ministers said in their recent decision that “to establish the identity and criminal liability for those responsible for the violations, Georgian authorities shall conduct the investigation without further delay”.

The Committee of Ministers called on Georgia to implement reforms aimed at further enhancing the independence, effectiveness, and accountability of the prosecution service.