Tamar Chugoshvili and Maia Kopaleishvili who represented President of Georgia in the impeachment proceedings before the Constitutional Court, said at the press-conference dedicated to the Constitutional court decision that the verdict was political.

“We all know very well that the impeachment procedure by the majority of the Parliament was based on 3 meetings of the President. August 31st meeting with the President of Germany, September 1st meeting with the President of the European Council and September 6th meeting with the French President.

The members of the majority claimed at the beginning that things were said at these meetings that would interfere with the issue of granting the candidate status to Georgia. This Court’s review has shown that there is no evidence to support this. The Parliament could not provide any evidence that would confirm that the President obstructed the status granting process by any action, on the contrary, it is clearly confirmed that these actions of the President, as well as other actions, were related to the request to the leading European leaders to grant Georgia the status of a member state of the European Union.

The Parliament and the ruling majority considered it necessary to remove the president of Georgia from her position because Zourabichvili asked her European colleagues to grant the status of a candidate.

We tried to ensure that the Constitutional Court remained in a legal scope and did not become a political party, discussing various issues from a legal perspective. The Chairman of the court emphasized today that the President did not appear at the hearings. She was represented by representatives. Unfortunately, the court still decided to become a political party.

As I read the conclusion, the sad feeling I had during the deliberations is reinforced. From the first minute of the session, it became clear where the majority of judges stood. Many thanks to the few judges who had a different opinion. It is very important that this conclusion from the Court is not unanimous.

There is no evidence that the President obstructed Georgia’"s status in any way, on the contrary, she is facing being impeached for doing what was within her authority to help the country get the status. This was not refuted by the Parliament during the sessions.

It is unfortunate that the assertion of the representatives of the Parliament, which was shared by the Constitutional Court and the majority of judges, is an extreme limitation of the institution of the President, not Salome Zourabichvili, but the institution. There is no parliamentary system in the world where the Constitution and the Constitutional Court limit the President in this way, or define the role of the President in this way.

Now there is no point in legal discussion, the issue has already moved to the political field. Parliament must make a decision, the legal part is completed. Starting the impeachment procedure, bringing this case to the court, regardless of how it ends, is already very damaging to the western course of Georgia, to the chances of being granted candidate status”, - said Tamar Chugoshvili.