14:44, 14 August 2025

Zviad Ratiani remains in custody

Zviad Ratiani. Photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1522666202466258&set=a.7154066393192247 belongs to the Meta company, whose activities are prohibited in Russia

The Tbilisi City Court refused to release Zviad Ratiani on bail, agreeing with the prosecution's assumption that the poet and translator could influence witnesses.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, on the evening of June 23, police detained poet Zviad Ratiani during a daily protest outside the Georgian parliament. According to law enforcement officers, Ratiani allegedly hit one of them on the hand. The court detained Ratiani.

Zviad Ratiani has been participating in protests outside the parliament since their beginning. On the first night of the protests, from November 28 to 29, he was detained and brutally beaten by special forces, after which he was arrested for eight days. As a result of the beating, Ratiani suffered a broken nose and jaw. "They put me in a car and beat me there continuously. They said: 'We'll break you, now let's see how you'll wriggle. "They couldn't break me," Ratiani's story is quoted in the article "JAMnews: Stories of Protesters Beaten in Tbilisi".

The Tbilisi City Court has left poet Zviad Ratiani in custody, accused of attacking a police officer. Judge Lela Kalichenko did not grant the defense's motion for bail in the amount of 10,000 lari, granting the motion of the prosecution and leaving the accused in custody, Interpressnews reported today.

According to the prosecution, the personal characteristics of the accused may indicate the commission of a new crime, and there are no grounds for his release. According to the defense, this is excluded. According to the lawyer, there are no factors on Zviad Ratiani's part that could obstruct justice, moreover, "Zviad Ratiani himself has repeatedly become a victim of violence with "by the police officers."

According to the prosecution, Ratiani hit police officer Teimuraz Meshvelashvili in the face with his right hand. "I do not consider myself guilty of the charges brought against me," Ratiani said.

According to the lawyers, there is no danger of committing a new crime and, therefore, there are no grounds for imprisonment. According to them, Zviad Ratiani has never been convicted. Regarding the possibility of influencing witnesses, they indicated that the prosecution witnesses are police officers, and Zviad Ratiani has not been in contact and has no connections, Publika reports.

The Caucasian Knot published a report "The Main Thing About the Persecution of Protest Participants in Georgia". The Caucasian Knot collected materials about the parliamentary elections and the protests that followed on the page "Elections in Georgia-2024".

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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/413814