EGIZARYAN v. GEORGIA

THIRD SECTIONApplication no. 40085/09Vartazar EGIZARYANagainst Georgialodged on 2 July 2009STATEMENT OF FACTS 1.  The applicant, Mr Vartazar Egizaryan, is a Georgian national, who was born in 1982 and lives in Tbilisi. He is represented before the Court by Ms Natia Katsitadze and Ms Joanna Evans, lawyers practising in Tbilisi and London.2.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.A.  Background3.  Soon after the change of power took place in Georgia in November 2003, political tensions escalated between the central government in Tbilisi and the local government of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic (“the AAR”) (see also Georgian Labour Party v. Georgia, no. 9103/04, §§ 11-13 and 112-113, ECHR 2008). Clashes between supporters of and opposition to the then Head of the AAR, Mr Aslan Abashidze, took place on various dates in different cities and villa …