A public hearing into application lodged by the Girgvliani family against Georgia in the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), scheduled for February 2, was postponed after a judge in respect of Georgia withdrew from the case.

“A new hearing date will be fixed after the Georgian Government nominates an ad hoc judge,” ECHR press service wrote in an e-mail to Civil.Ge.

The judge in respect of Georgia, Nona Tsotsoria, recused herself and the government has to appoint an ad hoc judge before February 12, according to the Georgian Justice Ministry. Reasons of the judge's self recusal were not revealed.

Enukidze and Girgvliani v. Georgia case involves a murder case of 28-year-old Sandro Girgvliani in 2006. The case has turned into the key political issue in 2006 and it reemerges time after time in Georgia’s political discourse, because of persisting allegations that the investigation covered up possible links of Interior Ministry officials, as well as of wife of Interior Minister, Vano Merabishvili, to this murder case.

Four officers from Interior Ministry’s Department for Constitutional Security were convicted for this murder case; they were all pardoned and granted a pre-term release in September, 2009.

Applicants – Irina Enukidze (late mother of Sandro Girgvliani) and Guram Girgvliani (the father) – claim that the rights under article 2 (right to life); article 3 (prohibition of torture); article 6 (right to a fair trial) and article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms were violated.