A Russian citizen was arrested in Tbilisi for blocking Rustaveli Avenue.

Russian citizen Artem Guselnikov has been in pretrial detention for five days; a Tbilisi court sentenced him to seven days in jail for blocking traffic on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, on October 23, a Tbilisi court sentenced Russian citizen Nikolai Belikov, who was detained during protests on Rustaveli Avenue, to 14 days of administrative arrest. After serving his sentence, Belikov must be deported to his country of citizenship and banned from re-entering Georgia for two years. His acquaintances are certain that the opposition figure from Volgograd faces a real risk of persecution and imprisonment in his home country.

Another Russian citizen, arrested in Tbilisi for participating in protests on Rustaveli Avenue, has been held in a pre-trial detention center in Zahesi for five days. Artem Guselnikov was sentenced to seven days of detention for blocking traffic, the Tbilisi_life Telegram channel reported.

According to the channel, the court issued a ruling on the Russian citizen's case on Monday, October 27, but the decision was only made public today. Lawyer Daria Samodurova visited Guselnikov in the pre-trial detention center.

Artem Guselnikov and his wife, Anna, lived in St. Petersburg before leaving Russia. In November 2024, when they were already outside of Russia, security forces searched their apartment in their absence. The Guselnikovs observed the search via a live feed from a camera installed in the apartment. According to Guselnikov, a denunciation was filed against him and his wife under articles on military "fakes" and the justification of terrorism, as he and his wife distributed pacifist leaflets, which security forces found in their apartment.

In December 2024, the human rights project OVD-Info (listed as a foreign agent by the Russian Ministry of Justice) published the story of Guselnikov and his wife. The project later removed the material based on the Guselnikovs' statements from its website, as upon closer inspection, journalists "had doubts about the veracity of some details of the story."

“During the final stage of the re-examination, Artem refused to answer additional questions, citing his busy schedule and more pressing issues. Without his clarification, we were unable to determine the reason and timing of Artem and Anna's departure from Russia. It also remains unclear why Artem contacted the professional informant Bulatov and sent him links to his VKontakte posts,” the project's page states.

“Caucasian Knot” also reported that on October 23, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadygov to 14 days of administrative arrest, finding him one of those who blocked traffic on Rustaveli Avenue. In addition to administrative arrest, A. Sadygov was also fined 270,000 lari (approximately $99,800) for 54 offenses. The defense appealed the fines, and the journalist's family called the amount unaffordable.