Tbilisi court strongly fines activist Lasha Chkhartishvili

Lasha Chkhartishvili, an activist of the Labour Party, has been fined by 3000 laries (GEL) for resisting the police during his arrest on January 3, 2020. The activist himself treats ruling as politically motivated, noting that oppositionists had never been so largely fined under this article before.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 3, an action held outside the Georgian parliament led to a brawl of policemen with the activists, who had supported the entrepreneurs, who refused to trade in the place, where the protesters' had earlier been set up. On January 5, oppositionists held a charity fair and raised money to pay fines imposed on traders.

During the trial, the police showed the videos, but they failed to prove Chkhartishvili's violations, Iya Siranashvili, his advocate, has stated.

According to Chkhartishvili, GEL 3000 is the largest fine ever imposed on Georgian oppositionists under this article. This amount is equal to his salary for six months.

Ucha Nanuashvili, a former Georgian Ombudsperson and a co-founder of the NGO "Human Rights Centre", has confirmed that activists had never been fined so severely under the article on disobedience to the police. "This is a very dangerous trend: oppositionists are being fined more and more heavily ... It's obvious pressure by authorities on their political opponents," he has stated.