In Georgia, court fines protesting veterans

Tea Tadashvili, Judge of the Tbilisi City Court, has fined 11 participants of the protest action of war veterans who were detained on charges of rendering resistance to policemen. Each of them was administratively fined by 400 laris (about 230 US dollars).

All the detainees were released right in the courtroom.

Let us note here that neither journalists nor opposition politicians Irakli Batiashvili, Aleko Shalamberidze and Lasha Chkhartishvili, nor the MP Giorgi Lordkipanidze, who wanted to observe the trial, were admitted into the courtroom.

Advocate Gela Nikolaishvili told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that three advocates were present at the session. Two defence witnesses were questioned - Irakli Batiashvili and Eka Matiashvili. The latter - a relative of one of the protesters - said that the brawl began after a city policeman Timur Gvenetadze, 26, hit her in the face.

The policemen, who spoke as prosecution witnesses, said that all the detainees were drunken, rendered resistance to policemen and verbally abused them.

Advocate Nikolaishvili has noted that the defence provided a video of the incident to the court, evidencing, in his opinion, that the policemen were telling lies. However, Judge Tadashvili refused to watch the video, arguing that oral evidences were sufficient for the court.

One of the fined veterans, retired Colonel Levan Asatiani said that the protesters were holding their action in complete accordance with the law.

"All the respective state organizations had been duly informed. Everybody knew that we would stop the hunger strike on January 6, since this was a precautionary action. On January 3 about 15 policemen appeared and rudely demanded to "free the territory". After our refusal, other policemen appeared in the venue and began violently pushing us into their patrol cars," Mr Asatiani said.

According to his story, the Ministry of Defence had been refusing to pay his salary debt in equivalent of 5700 US dollars for nine months of his training at the Higher Military Academy of Ukraine in 2001.

"I was fined for defence of my legitimate rights," Levan Asataini said.