KALANDADZE v. GEORGIA

Published on 8 April 2024 FIFTH SECTIONApplication no. 51229/22Giorgi KALANDADZEagainst Georgialodged on 15 October 2022communicated on 18 March 2024SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASEThe applicant is a former Chief of Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces. The application concerns civil defamation proceedings brought against him by T.T., a former official of the Ministry of Defence, whom the applicant had implicated in passing on classified military information to the Russian security services. After unsuccessful service of a civil claim on the applicant, the court proceeded with serving notice by means of public announcement. On 2 October 2019 the Tbilisi City Court examined the defamation claim in the applicant’s absence and granted it by way of a default judgment. The applicant was ordered, among others, to pay the claimant non‑pecuniary damages in the amount of 20,000 Georgian Laris (abou …