The ex-wife of a leading tennis player is standing by claims she was the victim of assault.

Nikoloz Basilashvili, who is ranked No. 27 in the world, was charged with violence against Neli Dorokashvili last month following a disagreement, according to a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.

Basilashvili was released on a bail of 100,000 Georgian Lari ($31,300) and is due to return to court on July 16 for the next hearing. An investigation into the criminal case is ongoing.

In a statement on Basilashvili’s Facebook page posted after he posted bail, his legal representatives said the allegations are “false and totally unsubstantiated.” The couple, who have a five-year-old son together, divorced last year.

“We would like to ensure Nikoloz Basilashvili’s fans that video footage already submitted to the court evidences our client’s position and fully discharges him from the abovementioned untrue allegations,” a statement from the lawyers said.

However, Dorokashvili’s lawyer says there is evidence to support her claims.

“There are people who are witness to their relationship. There are some video records and audio records. There also some transcripts, there are dialogues of phone text messages and so forth,” Ana Abashidze told CNN.

“Unfortunately, the media covered the issue unfairly and the vast majority of the population of Georgia supported Basilashvili, not because of the aspects of the case, just because of Basilashvili’s reputation and because of his sex.

“But we are still trying to do our best to defend a young lady who is morally judged by the Georgian community.”

Basilashvili became the first Georgian to win an ATP Tour title with victory in Hamburg, Germany, in 2018.

He has gone on to win two more titles, including a defense of his crown in Hamburg last year.

“Nikoloz Basilashvili is deeply saddened by the false allegations and the ordeal he had to go through during the last few days; he also regrets the inconvenience for all friends and family members who have gotten involved,” the statement from his lawyers continued.

“At the same time, he would like to express his gratitude towards the general public for their unconditional support, and he will prove his complete innocence and allowing the whole truth to prevail.”

When contacted for comment, Basilashvili’s attorney Irma Chkadua pointed CNN to her Facebook page where she is providing regular updates on the case.

“We would like to state that (the) Georgian Tennis Federation has always condemned any form of violence,” said a statement from the sport’s national governing body.

“The incident involving Nikoloz Basilashvili is currently under police investigation and GFT will refrain from either announcing its position on the matter or making any comments until such investigation is completed.”

The ATP did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by CNN.

The Tour is currently suspended through to July 31 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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“We would like to ensure Nikoloz Basilashvili’s fans that video footage already submitted to the court evidences our client’s position and fully discharges him from the abovementioned untrue allegations,” a statement from the lawyers said.

However, Dorokashvili’s lawyer says there is evidence to support her claims.

“There are people who are witness to their relationship. There are some video records and audio records. There also some transcripts, there are dialogues of phone text messages and so forth,” Ana Abashidze told CNN.

“Unfortunately, the media covered the issue unfairly and the vast majority of the population of Georgia supported Basilashvili, not because of the aspects of the case, just because of Basilashvili’s reputation and because of his sex.

“But we are still trying to do our best to defend a young lady who is morally judged by the Georgian community.”

Basilashvili became the first Georgian to win an ATP Tour title with victory in Hamburg, Germany, in 2018.

He has gone on to win two more titles, including a defense of his crown in Hamburg last year.

“Nikoloz Basilashvili is deeply saddened by the false allegations and the ordeal he had to go through during the last few days; he also regrets the inconvenience for all friends and family members who have gotten involved,” the statement from his lawyers continued.

“At the same time, he would like to express his gratitude towards the general public for their unconditional support, and he will prove his complete innocence and allowing the whole truth to prevail.”

Neither Basilashvili nor his legal representative responded to CNN’s request for comment. In a Facebook post on May 28, Basilashvili’s attorney Irma Chkadua said the lawyers will no longer be commenting to the media.

“We would like to state that (the) Georgian Tennis Federation has always condemned any form of violence,” said a statement from the sport’s national governing body.

“The incident involving Nikoloz Basilashvili is currently under police investigation and GFT will refrain from either announcing its position on the matter or making any comments until such investigation is completed.”

The ATP did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by CNN.

The Tour is currently suspended through to July 31 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Tbilisi: Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has been charged with assaulting his former wife, his lawyer Irma Chkadua said.

Basilashvili, ranked 27th in the world, has denied allegations that he attacked Neka Dorokashvili in front of their five-year-old son and he has been released on 100,000 lari ($26,000) bail.

The preliminary court hearing is scheduled for 16 July.

Basilashvili, 28, faces up to three years in prison, if found guilty.

Basilashvili is one of the most successful tennis players in Georgia’s history, having won three ATP 500 titles since his debut as a professional in 2008. He has also been an ever-present name at the Majors, last reaching the third round of a Grand Slam at the 2019 Australian Open, where he was eliminated by Stefanos Tsitsipas.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has been charged with assaulting his former wife, his lawyer Irma Chkadua said.

Basilashvili, ranked 27th in the world, has denied allegations that he attacked Neka Dorokashvili in front of their five-year-old son and he has been released on 100,000 lari ($26,000) bail.

The preliminary court hearing is scheduled for July 16.

Basilashvili, 28, faces up to three years in prison, if found guilty.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Ed Osmond)

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TBILISI: Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has been charged with assaulting his former wife, his lawyer Irma Chkadua said.

Basilashvili, ranked 27th in the world, has denied allegations that he attacked Neka Dorokashvili in front of their five-year-old son and he has been released on 100,000 lari (US$26,000) bail.

The preliminary court hearing is scheduled for July 16.

Basilashvili, 28, faces up to three years in prison, if found guilty.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Ed Osmond)

A Georgian tennis player was reportedly arrested for allegedly assaulting his ex-wife in front of their 5-year-old son.

Nikoloz Basilashvili, 28, was charged with domestic violence in the presence of a minor in Tbilisi, BBC News reported Monday. He was released from jail Sunday on $28,000 bail.

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Basilashvili, one of the best tennis players to come out of the nation of Georgia, denied the allegations. He and his wife have been divorced since 2019. According to BBC, he faces one-to-three years in jail if found guilty.

“Nikoloz Basilashvili is deeply saddened by the false allegations and the ordeal he had to go through during the last few days; he also regrets the inconvenience for all friends and family members who have gotten involved,” a post on his Facebook page read, according to the New York Daly News.

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“At the same time he would like to express his gratitude towards the general public for their unconditional support, and he will prove his complete innocence and allowing the whole truth to prevail.”

Basilashvili has won three ATP titles in his professional career. He is ranked No. 27 in the world.

The Georgian Tennis Federation said in a statement it condemns “any form of violence,” according to The Guardian.

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“The incident involving Nikoloz Basilashvili is currently under police investigation and GFT will refrain from either announcing its position on the matter or making any comments until such investigation is completed,” the organization said.

TBILISI: Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has been charged with assaulting his former wife, his lawyer Irma Chkadua said Tuesday. Basilashvili, ranked 27th in the world, has denied allegations that he attacked Neka Dorokashvili in front of their five-year-old son and he has been released on 100,000 lari ($26,000) bail. The preliminary court hearing is scheduled for July 16. Basilashvili, 28, faces up to three years in prison, if found guilty. In Georgia the charge of domestic violence in the presence of a minor carries a punishment of one to three years in prison or 200-400 hours of community service. Basilashvili’s lawyer, Irma Tchkadua, has denied the charge. Basilashvili is the most successful tennis player in Georgia’s history as an independent nation, having won three ATP 500 titles and acquired career prize money earnings of $5,479,761. He reached a career high of 16 in May 2019. Basilashvili married Dorokashvili in 2013 and in 2015 their only son, Lucas, was born.

Georgian professional tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili has been charged with attacking his ex-wife, Neka Dorokashvili, in the presence of their young child.

Basilashvili, who is ranked 27th in the world, was arrested on 22 May and released on ₾100,000  ($31,000) bail by Tbilisi City Court. 

Tbilisi City Court will start hearing the case on 16 July. If found guilty, Basilashvili faces up to three years in prison.

Dorokashvili has accused her ex-husband of assaulting her throughout their marriage. Basilashvili, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, said he would not comment on the matter publicly and would prove his innocence in court.

Dorokashvili told Rustavi 2 that Basilashvili attacked her while she was visiting his parents’ house to pick up their son. She said she did not know the reason for the alleged attack but that it had nothing to do with their divorce settlement, which she said ‘ended in his favour’.

She told TV Imedi that Basilashvili had assaulted her systematically throughout their marriage and that this continued even after their divorce.

‘The violence was permanent. I was thinking it would end after the divorce. I didn’t speak up before because I was protecting the family, you know how it is in Georgia, I was protecting the dignity of the family, I was protecting my son’, said Dorokashvili. 

‘However, after the divorce, this is how things continued and it had almost fatal consequences for me and my son.’ 

She said that after she fled the scene, Basilashvili’s father chased after her and her child with what looked like an axe in his hand.

‘I don’t know what happened to him, maybe he was drunk or something. He ran after me and my son with some kind of weapon in his hand. He says it was a guitar, but I think it was an axe.’ 

Basilashvili’s lawyer, Irma Chkadua, told journalists on Sunday that if her former father in law had assaulted her, he would have been arrested too. She did not respond to a question about whether a restraining order had been placed against him.

The prosecutor in the case, Natia Guruli, told journalists that a restraining order had indeed been issued against Basilashvili’s father, however, she added that Dorokashvili herself ‘doesn’t admit that there was physical violence from him against her’.

Dorokashvili said she escaped Basilashvili’s parents’ house by jumping into a stranger’s car passing by.

‘False accusations’

On Sunday, Basilashvili’s official Facebook page posted a family statement apologising for the ‘false accusations’ against them.

‘We state with full responsibility that the information about violence doesn’t correspond to the truth and there is no evidence proving such a fact. This is not the first time that Neli [Neka] Dorokashvili, Nikoloz’s former wife, has tried to inflict moral, financial, or reputational harm to Nikoloz and his family’, the statement reads.

The statement said that Dorokashvili had initially refused to sign divorce papers and that after the divorce was formalised, the couple had no relations other than caring for their child.

‘After the divorce, Neli Dorokashvili also groundlessly sued Nikoloz Basilashvili’s mother for violence against her child. After consideration, the court ruled in Basilashvili’s mother’s favour’, the statement said. 

Ana Abashidze, the director of Partnership for Human Rights, a local rights group that is representing Dorokashvili, said on Monday that a restraining order against Basilashvili’s mother was issued for psychological violence against her grandson. 

She said that the court of Appeals later overturned the restraining order ‘groundlessly, amid stereotypical and prejudicial assumptions’. She added that her organisation planned to appeal this decision. 

Later on Sunday, Basilashvili posted another statement on his page in which he said he was confident he’d prove the truth in the court.

‘I’m sorry and I apologise to society for the developments around my family. I always feel your support and love, for which I’m infinitely grateful’, said Basilashvili. 

Reactions to the arrest

The Georgian National Olympic Committee addressed the allegations against Basilashvili in a statement on Monday. The committee said the knew Bailashvili as a ‘calm and balanced person’ and added that it was regrettable that his personal reputation had come into question because of these developments. 

‘Of course, we condemn any kind of violence, however, we hereby call on all sides to protect the presumption of innocence and avoid ungrounded accusations before the court’s ruling’, they said. 

Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria said that her office would be observing the investigation into the alleged violence. 

‘I would like to express my support to the woman who has suffered. I call on all governmental bodies to do their best to protect her from physical and psychological violence’, she wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

Others have spoken out in Basilashvili’s defence. Shota Arveladze, a former Georgian Football player who currently manages Uzbek club Pakhtakor Tashkent said that he was against violence, especially against women ‘who make our lives beautiful’, but that he supported Basilashvili. 

‘I don’t know him personally, however, I’d like to express my support to him during these hard times’, Arveladze wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

Ana Abashidze, the director of Partnership for Human Rights, said that Basilashvili’s success did not give him the right to assault anyone. 

‘Nikoloz Basilashvili is a truly successful person in the world of sports, his achievements are outstanding. However, this doesn’t mean that he is authorised to assault anyone because of his success and that we should be silent because of that’, said Abashidze.