▲Beka Grigoriadis after having sewn his eye and lips shut. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
The father of the first participant in Georgia’s foreign agent law protests to face criminal charges sewed his eye and lips shut on Tuesday demanding his son’s release.
Beka Grigoriadis has been holding a permanent protest behind the parliament building in Tbilisi since 29 May, demanding the release of his son.
Lazare Grigoriadis, 21, was arrested on 29 March on charges of attacking a policeman and destroying government property during the protests against the foreign agent law in March of this year.
Lazare Grigoriadis in court on 13 June. Photo: RFE/RL
He faces from 7 to 11 years in prison if found guilty of throwing two Molotov cocktails at the police and setting a police car on fire.
Beka Grigoriadis has faced opposition from the police during his protest, who repeatedly prevented him from setting up a tent behind parliament, and subsequently arrested him on 1 June. The following day, he was found guilty of disobeying police and fined ₾2,000 ($770).
On 3 June, Beka Grigoriadis successfully set up a tent in a park behind the parliament building. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media
On 7 June, Beka Grigoriadis was again charged for verbally abusing police on social networks.
Grigoriadis’ latest move came two days after a striking miner in Chiatura sewed his eyes shut, and four days after another miner sewed his mouth shut.
In a video address on Facebook, Grigoriadis stated that he supported the Chiatura strike, but he was taking the move as it was the only way the media would pay attention to his son’s case.
Following his son’s arrest, Grigoriadis initially demanded a jury trial for Lazare Grigoriadis, but launched his ongoing protest after claiming he had given up on the Georgian court system.
Protests against the foreign agent draft laws took place over several days at the start of March, but became particularly intense on 7–8 March, when riot police attempted to disperse the assembled protesters with pepper spray, tear gas, and water cannons.
Protesters being water cannoned during March protest against foreign agent law. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media
The protests ceased after the draft law was formally withdrawn from parliament.
Before joining OC Media, Tata worked as a journalist for the Georgian newspaper Resonance. She is interested in politics, social issues, and all things Caucasus. For Tata, writing is not just a profession — it’s her way to unwind.
In 2021, Vera Kupatadze was one of eight people who spent a month on hunger strike, her lips sewn shut, to demand compensation from Georgian Manganese for damage to her property.
Today, Vera is one of dozens of Shukrutians who are demanding action and clarity from the company, which operates the mines in Chiatura, on the fate of their houses and the entire village.
[Read more: Mine entrance blocked near Shukruti in renewed protest against Georgian Manganese]
During the 2021 protests,
Residents of a village near the Georgian mining town of Chiatura have blocked access to a mine running under their village, to demand adequate compensation for the destruction of their village.
Residents of Shukruti, in western Georgia, set up a tent outside the mine entrance on Wednesday, the latest in a series of protests against mining company Georgian Manganese.
The land in and around Shukruti began to collapse in 2019, with Georgian Manganese initially denying any connection to the mine
A strike by manganese miners in the central Georgian town of Chiatura has come to an end after 18 days, with the mining company agreeing to key demands from the workers.
On Saturday, mining firm Georgian Manganese agreed to reverse new ore quotas that miners had described as ‘inhuman’. They also agreed to honour their contractual obligation to increase salaries by 12%, in line with inflation.
The miners went on strike after the company announced that workers would have to mine up to 40% more
Manganese miners from the central Georgian town of Chiatura have for weeks been on strike over their working conditions. But since a portion of the strikers moved their protest to the capital Tbilisi, far-right figures have been seen attempting to ingratiate themselves into the protests, leaving the miners unsure who to trust.
When several dozen striking miners and their supporters arrived in Tbilisi on 19 June, their intention was to bring wider attention to their cause. And the strike resona
