The Tbilisi City Court has sentenced protesters detained in the early phase of the ongoing anti-government demonstrations — Davit Lomidze and Temur Zasokhashvili — to four and a half years each, accusing them of throwing Molotov cocktails at police.
The ruling was passed down by Judge Nino Galustashvili on Friday.
Zasokhashvili and Lomidze were convicted of ‘assaulting a police officer’, which carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
Publika reported that the victims in the case were riot police officers from the Interior Ministry’s Special Tasks Department — none of whom had suffered any injuries.
According to RFE/RL, the ministry claimed the Molotov cocktail damaged a water cannon used by police to disperse protesters.
Both Zasokhashvili and Lomidze denied the charges.
At the end of the court session, Galustashvili informed Zasokhashvili and Lomidze that they had the right to apply for a pardon.
‘There will be no pardon’, Lomidze replied, echoing the stance of many other detained protesters who refused to seek clemency from the state.
The current wave of protests in Tbilisi and other parts of Georgia began on 28 November, after the Georgian Dream government announced the suspension of the country’s EU membership bid.
In the early days of the demonstrations, riot police repeatedly and violently dispersed protesters using tear gas and water cannons. There were also widespread reports that protesters who were detained were being systematically beaten, robbed, and humiliated during their detention, while unidentified masked men also attacked protesters and journalists on numerous occasions.
Mariam Bogveradze
During the trial, Lomidze recounted the police violence he endured at the moment of his detention. According to him, after being detained, he was placed in a police van alongside other protesters, where his hands were tied behind his back and he was beaten. Lomidze also said that after the beating, police sprayed pepper spray inside the van and then closed the doors.
According to his lawyer, police officers also stole personal belongings from Lomidze at this time. According to the defence, Zasokhashvili was also brutally beaten after being detained: he had various injuries on his body, and his face was covered in bruises. He struggled to stand on his feet and could barely open one eye.
There is no publicly available information indicating that any police officer has been punished for violence against citizens.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been detained, with criminal cases launched in over 50 instances. Several protesters have already been convicted and sentenced to years in prison. Their release — along with calls for new parliamentary elections — has become one of the demonstrators’ central demands.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
