Tbilisi City Court has acquitted Tedo Abramov, a protester who was detained during the ongoing anti-government protests on drug charges. A second protester, Davit Khomeriki, was found guilty on separate charges and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison.
Both hearings took place on Friday, a few hours apart.
Abramov, 22, was detained on 7 December as he was leaving home to attend a demonstration. The prosecution claimed that during a search, MDMA was found in his pocket, leading to criminal charges that carry a sentence of 8–20 years, or life in prison. He insisted police planted the drugs on him, with his lawyers insisting the case relied solely on the testimony of the arresting officers.
According to RFE/RL, when delivering the verdict, Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili stated that police testimony ‘cannot be accepted unequivocally’.
Outside the court, Abramov was greeted with cheers from friends and supporters.
‘No one plans to give up. There will be one more of us [free] and this will continue until all of us are free. We will bring this fight until the end, we will surely win and defeat this filthy system’, Abramov told journalists outside the court.
Before Khomeriki’s verdict would be announced, he said that he was happy to hear Abramov was released.
‘I congratulate him for becoming free. Probably he is the freest person among all of us’, he said.
Khomeriki, 26, was accused of preparing a crime after police claimed that they found a Molotov cocktail in his bag on 2 December following his administrative detention at a protest.
He also denied the charges against him, stating that police officers who had subjected him to both psychological and physical abuse during his arrest had lied in court. His defence argued that there was no evidence against him other than police testimony.
‘I am very honoured’, Khomeriki said, responding to the sentence announced by Judge Nino Galustashvili.
After the verdict was announced, some of the family members and supporters in the court hall couldn’t hold back their tears.
‘What did this kid do, what did he explode, whom did he hit, what did he do? why is he in prison, this musician boy, why?’ His mother Dedika Maisuradze said, leaving the courtroom upset and crying.
Before being arrested, Khomeriki was playing guitar and was the vocalist of a rock band, The Sinners. He also opened a bar, which is now closed.
‘I thought nine months was enough for them [Georgian Dream]. My boy is a free spirit. I have a wonderful boy. We will go through this together, we will survive this too’, she later told journalists.
Abramov is only the second person criminally detained during the ongoing protests to have been acquitted so far. On 6 August, Tbilisi City Court cleared Giorgi Akhobadze, who was also charged with a drug-related offense.
The latest wave of protests in Georgia began on 28 November, when Georgian Dream announced the suspension of the country’s EU membership bid. The first phase of demonstrations saw heavy clashes and brutal police violence against protesters and journalists.
Hundreds of people 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
