Eight Georgian Protesters Sentenced to Real Prison Terms

A court in Tbilisi found eight protesters guilty of organizing group actions that violated public order and sentenced them to terms ranging from two to two and a half years in prison. Salome Zurabishvili called the sentence politically motivated.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, on December 6, 2024, the Tbilisi City Courtsentenced the founder of the Dapioni movement Zviad Tsetskhladze and seven others detained in the case of violence at protests to jail. On March 12, the same court began hearing the merits of the case of eight defendants: Zviad Tsetskhladze, Giorgi Gorgadze, Irakli Miminoshvili, Insaf (also referred to in media publications as Ilsam) Aliyev, Tornike Goshadze, Nikoloz Javakhishvili, Vepkhia Kasradze and Vasil Kadzelashvili.

The Tbilisi City Court sentenced eight participants in the pro-European protests, whose cases were combined into one proceeding. The article was reclassified. Instead of “group violence,” as the prosecutor’s office insisted, the court found everyone guilty under a more lenient article, 226 of the Criminal Code: “Organization of group actions that violate public order, or active participation in them.”

This is one of the most high-profile trials of participants in the protests of last fall. Four of the accused are students under 21, including the leader of the Dafioni student movement Zviad Tsetskhladze. He, as well as Vasil Kadzelashvili and Vepkhvia Kasradze, were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Insaf Aliyev, Tornike Goshadze, Giorgi Gorgadze, Nikoloz Javakhishvili and Irakli Miminoshvili were sentenced to two years in prison. None of the defendants admitted guilt, the Novosti Georgia agency reports.

Article 226 of the Criminal Code of Georgia provides for both a punishment not related to imprisonment and a term of up to three years, writes Publika.

Salome Zurabishvili, the fifth president of Georgia, called the sentence politically motivated. "Yet another politically motivated verdict was handed down today: 8 pro-European protesters were jailed in an apparent attempt to silence dissent. This is state repression that undermines freedom, justice and Georgia's European path," InterPressNews quoted her as saying.

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