The court sentenced Anatoli Gigauri, detained during anti-government protests in Tbilisi for slapping a police officer, to two years in prison. Gigauri has accused the police of severely beating him while in custody.
The decision was announced on Tuesday by Tbilisi City Court judge Jvebe Nachkebia.
Gigauri was initially charged with assaulting a police officer, an offence punishable by up to seven years in prison. However, as in the case of media founder Mzia Amaghlobeli, the court downgraded the charge to ‘resisting, threatening, or using violence against a protector of public order’.
Unlike the original charge, the new one provides for a fine, house arrest, or prison time.
‘That’s how you punish August War veterans, thank you very much’, Gigauri’s mother said to the judge, according to local media. His family said that Gigauri had fought in the August 2008 War.
After the court hearing, Gigauri’s lawyer Lasha Tsutskiridze said that the prosecutor’s claim accusing his client of being an ‘assaulter’ was unproven, yet the verdict fell short of the outcome the defence team had sought.
‘For months, we have maintained that Gigauri’s actions were within the scope of necessary defence […] Unfortunately, the judge did not share our position on this matter’, he added.
Gigauri was detained in Tbilisi on 25 November 2025 while returning home from protests held after the disputed October elections. The detention was preceded by an incident between him and a police officer about two hours before his detention during the rally.
Gigauri confirmed pushing the officer but said it was an act of self-defence after he had first punched him, insulted him, and prepared to hit him again.
‘At that moment, I lost my composure and pushed him away to get him off me’, he said at his first court hearing after his arrest, as quoted by Netgazeti.
His lawyer Tsutskiridze says there is evidence confirming that a police officer struck Gigauri, including video footage submitted in the case.
‘The footage clearly shows how the police officer punches Anatoli Gigauri in the face with a closed fist, and within two to three seconds after that, Gigauri reacts by pushing the police officer’s hand away and defending himself’, Tsutskiridze said on Tuesday.
‘He is the one who was harmed?’
Gigauri told the court that he was severely beaten both during the detention on the street and later after being taken to the detention facility.
According to his account, the first beating caused bleeding, which the police themselves later tried to stop while transporting him to a detention facility by car.
Gigauri said that the second assault happened in the detention center, carried out by the same officer involved in the incident at the protest.
Before the verdict was announced on Tuesday, Gigauri addressed the court, criticising it for not putting the police officer on trial instead.
‘The man [police officer] who tortured me, punched me in the head, and gave me a concussion — you’re telling me he is the victim, and after that, you say the word “justice” exists and that he is the one who was harmed?’ he said, according to RFE/RL.
The Special Investigation Service, the agency responsible for investigating police misconduct, has launched an investigation into Gigauri’s allegations. However, no information has been released so far holding any police officer accountable.
The protest during which Gigauri was detained followed the disputed parliamentary elections on 31 October, which were marked by major violations. According to the official results, the ruling Georgian Dream party won the vote.
The post-election protests were soon followed by the current wave of demonstrations that 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.
There is no publicly available information indicating that any police officer has been punished for violence against citizens.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been detained since November, with criminal cases launched against over 50. 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
