Judges of theRustavi 2 and Cables cases were selected by the government for Strasbourg. Otar Sichinava and Lali Papiashvili are the favorite candidates of the government. The judges, who were accused of delaying the high-profile processes in the Constitutional Court and accused of pursuing the interests of the government, are now using the right to silence and are not responding to the sharp accusations.

Candidacies of Chanturia, Papiashvili and Sichinava will be presented in the third attempt of the government to approve their choice at the Council of Europe, but the prognosis of the Public Defende is pessimistic . Ucha Nanuashvili does not exclude the failure of the government and suggests that Strasbourg will return three of the two candidates sent by Georgia to Tbilisi. However, before Strasbourg considers candidacies of judges, the critical letters sent from Tbilisi will be discussed regarding non-transparent and politically motivated process of selection of candidates.

The criticism of former contestants, as well as the civil sector, is unacceptable for the members of the selection committee. MP Sopho Kiladze claims that the government has no favorites and the final choice was made according to the competitors` qualifications.

Whether the European side accepts the choic of the Georgian government will be clear in a few months. The Council of Europe will begin discussions about Lali Papiashvili, Otar Sichinava and Vladimer Chanturia in about 3 weeks.