ASHLARBA v. GEORGIA

THIRD SECTIONApplication no. 45554/08Izet ASHLARBAagainst Georgialodged on 22 April 2008STATEMENT OF FACTSTHE FACTSThe applicant, Mr Izet Ashlarba, is a Georgian national who was born in 1956 and is currently detained in Rustavi prison no. 6. He is represented before the Court by Ms Marine Pkhaladze and Mr Givi Zirakashvili, lawyers practising in Tbilisi.A.  The circumstances of the caseThe facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.By a judgment of 27 March 2007, the Batumi City Court convicted the applicant of membership of the criminal world, an offence prosecuted by Article 223(1) § 1 of the Criminal Code. The activities imputed to the applicant were described by the court, in general terms, as follows:“Acknowledging and confessing to the criminal world, [the applicant] has been publicly expressing his support for it through his own lifestyle and h …