Latest news with #SabaJikia
OC Media
10-07-2025
- Politics
- OC Media
Georgian court sentences 19-year-old to 4.5 years in prison for ‘attacking a police officer' during a protest
Join the voices Aliyev wants to silence. For over eight years, OC Media has worked with fearless journalists from Azerbaijan — some of whom now face decades behind bars — to bring you the stories the regime is afraid will get out. Help us fuel Aliyev's fears — become an OC Media member today Become a member Tbilisi City Court Judge Tamar Mchedlidze has sentenced Saba Jikia, a 19-year-old participant of anti-government protests, to four years and six months in jail for 'attacking a police officer'. Jikidze never pleaded guilty and has maintained his innocence. Jikidze was arrested on 5 December on charges of 'hitting a police officer' with his leg during a protest on 30 November. The victim in this case is an employee of special operative department Beka Gotiashvili, who during the trial stated that he did not receive any injuries. During the last hearing on 10 July, Jikia delivered his final words. Following the new media ban implemented by the ruling Georgian Dream party, the media is not allowed to record video, audio, or photo during trials. Nonetheless, photos of his handwritten speech were later posted on social media. 'I am not really happy about the fact that I will have to go to prison from four to seven years with absurd charges and that I have to spend my youth in jail, but my arrest had some positive results as well, I got to know amazing boys, I learned the price of freedom, what situation our country is in and the best part is that I will have amazing stories to tell my grandchildren. I will not be ashamed to tell them, because we stand on the right side of history', he said in his letter. Jikia added that he kept coming to court to meet his friends and supporters. 'To show you that we are not afraid and we didn't break. But I still have inner fear. I am scared of defeat, because I don't want future generations to judge us for this defeat', he said. Advertisement 'I am scared of the defeat because I don't want kids to be raised in an unjust country and a dictatorship. So I will do however I can, I will fight till the end. It is weird to hear this from a 19-year-old boy, but this is how it is, my friends. I won't give up'. 'Will it be four years and six months???', from a note Saba Jikia wrote earlier in June at one of his trials predicting his sentence. Photo: Mindia Gabadze/Publika In its coverage of the verdict, the pro-government media outlet TV Imedi, wrote that Jikia had been convicted of 'attacking a police officer with a knife' despite the fact that a knife was never a subject of discussion during Jikia's trial. Post TV, another pro-government media outlet, published a post with an apparently AI-generated, Studio Ghibli-style anime depiction of Jikia holding a knife as other protesters beat up police in the background. An attached caption read, 'prisoner of conscience for opposition, violent criminal Saba Jikia in reality'. Journalists said that Judge Mchedlidze's announcement of the verdict was met by sadness and tears from his friends and supporters. Jikia's lawyer, Guja Avsajanishvili, told journalists after the announcement that Mchedlidze had already prepared the verdict in advance, as the amount of time she took to make a ruling would not have been enough to write the text she read to the court. 'This means that Mrs Tamar came to the final speech with an already written verdict. This means that the judges come to trials with their attitudes formed already', he said. Apart from Jikidze, Tbilisi City Court sentenced two other protesters, Mate Devidze and Giorgi Mindadze, for 'attacking a police officer'. Devidze was sentenced to four years and six months, while Mindadze to five years in jail.
Civil.ge
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Civil.ge
19-Year-Old Protester Saba Jikia Sentenced to 4.5 Years in Jail Over ‘Assaulting' Police
Saba Jikia, a 19-year-old protester detained during the early weeks of ongoing protests, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison on charges of assaulting a police officer. Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili delivered the verdict on July 10, during a hearing with limited media coverage, just weeks after new restrictions on courtroom recording took effect . 'I have to spend my youth in prison,' Jikia told the court in his final remarks, as quoted by RFE/RL's live blog. 'But my arrest has had its advantages too: I found a new family… I met other very good boys [inmates]… I realized the value of freedom, and I'll have a great story to tell my grandchildren. I stand on the right side of history.' Jikia was arrested on December 5, 2024, a week after the non-stop protests broke out in response to Georgian Dream's announcement on halting European integration. He turned 19 on June 26. He was accused of kicking a fallen riot police officer. The charges of assaulting a police officer carry a prison sentence of four to seven years. However, lawyers had argued that the law allows courts to apply juvenile justice measures to defendants under 21, which could result in a more lenient sentence if the defendant is found guilty. The allegations are based on video evidence where a young man, whom the prosecution identifies as Jikia, is seen swinging his leg at a fallen man dressed in black and wearing a helmet, after the latter is pushed to the ground amid the confrontation with other protesters. Witness Beka Gotiashvili has testified as a riot police officer in the episode. In the audio recording from the hearing, published by Publika, Gotiashvili is heard confirming he was hit in the extremity, but denies sustaining any injuries. Defense argued it is unclear from the video whether there is actual contact between a young man, allegedly Jikia, and the fallen man, and complained they were not allowed to question an expert on the matter. According to the lawyer, Jikia couldn't identify the fallen man as a police officer, as he wore no insignia. The lawyer further claimed that it was also impossible to establish whether the fallen man was Gotiashvili, the testifying riot police officer. 'It is not established that Saba Jikia was conscious of whether the [fallen individual] was a citizen, law enforcer, or a representative of any other organization,' Guja Avsajanishvili, Jikia's lawyer, told Netgazeti in June. 'We know that there were numerous people with similar clothing at the rally.' According to Avsajanishvili, if the policeman had any identifying sign on his uniform, the uniform would have been presented by the prosecution as evidence, which was not the case. The violent police dispersal in the first weeks of the protests came amid concerns over the involvement of so-called 'men in black' — often masked individuals wearing no police uniforms or identification. Their anonymity is thought to have further enabled the impunity of those who used excessive force. The initial period also saw repeated incidents of thug violence, with masked men, so-called Titushki, who were widely believed to be linked to the ruling Georgian Dream party, attacking protesters. No police officer has been held accountable despite numerous documented abuses during dispersals. Dozens of protesters, however, remain in jail on criminal charges, convicted or awaiting their verdicts. Jikia is the sixth protester to be convicted among those arrested since November 2024. Earlier convictions include those of Giorgi Mindadze , Mate Devidze , Denis Kulanin, Daniel Mumladze, and Guram Khutashvili , all of whom were sentenced to years in jail. Seven more remain in prison after being convicted over their involvement in the spring 2024 protests against the foreign agents law, including Omar Okribelashvili, Saba Meparishvili, and Pridon Bubuteishvili, who were convicted in January, Davit Koldari, Giorgi Kuchuashvili, and Giorgi Okmelashvili , who were convicted in February , as well as Irakli Megvinetukhutsesi, convicted in December. Eight individuals, including six active opposition politicians, were recently sentenced to prison terms of several months for defying the Georgian Dream investigative commission. , a recently created civic platform, currently lists 66 persons who were jailed in 2024-2025 and are considered political prisoners. Also Read:
OC Media
04-07-2025
- Politics
- OC Media
How the media (cannot) cover trials in Georgia
Join the voices Aliyev wants to silence. For over eight years, OC Media has worked with fearless journalists from Azerbaijan — some of whom now face decades behind bars — to bring you the stories the regime is afraid will get out. Help us fuel Aliyev's fears — become an OC Media member today Become a member It's been a week since yet another restriction for Georgian media came into force: photos, videos, and audio recordings are no longer allowed inside courtrooms, the court building, or even the courtyard. The new regulation does say that the High Council of Justice is entitled to grant permission after individual appeals from reporters, but so far, all appeals have been left unanswered — therefore, it's been a week without any quality content from the important trials of detained protesters. According to local civil rights groups, over 65 people have been arrested during the ongoing anti-government protests, students, doctors, teachers, and politicians among them. Interest towards their cases are very high. Many videos and photos from the trials have often gone viral, such as when a key witness for the prosecution failed to recognise the person he allegedly arrested and searched in December. When the defence lawyer asked the witness if the person he had detained was in court that day, the witness replied, 'Yes, he's right there'. Yet Valeri Tetrashvili, the defendant, had not attended that day's hearing. This mistake did not show the court in a good light, and there have been many such cases. Inconsistencies in the testimonies of witnesses, a lack of evidence, the emotions of defendants and their family members — all of these have been making Georgian Dream look bad. As a solution, the ruling party got rid of media presence in a matter of days. On Thursday, there were three important trials, including a verdict for 21-year-old Giorgi Mindadze, a medical student accused of firing fireworks during the ongoing protests on Rustaveli Avenue. That day, I went to see what I could get from court with these new regulations. It was the first day in maybe eight months I left home without a camera, even a small one, as if you have one, you are not allowed into the court building at all. Despite not carrying any filming equipment, I was unable to get into any of the three trials. Despite high public interest, the hearings are held in smaller courtrooms only capable of holding 35-40 people, so sometimes even family members cannot get in. At the hearing of 19-year-old Saba Jikia, charged with attacking a police officer, around 40 people managed to get in, including an artist from online media outlet Publika, which had been very active in covering all these trials prior to the new regulations. 'Let the artist in, let the artist in', we heard in the hall, instead of the previous call: 'Let the cameras in'. Defendant Saba Jikia and Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili. Illustration: Nika Khabeishvili/Publika. In the middle of the hearing, a Publika journalist brought the first sketch from the hearing into the hall and asked his colleague and me to help digitilise the drawing. To avoid the court bailiff's anger over taking photos even with phones in the hall, we had to go to the bathroom instead. The highest interest was for Mindadze's verdict. Hundreds came to support him and his mother, who also had a birthday that same day. The hall was already full an hour before the trial was set to begin, and the court bailiff once again went on using violence to kick people out. Two attendees required an ambulance, one of whom was then hospitalised as a result of the violence that day. Despite the restrictions, I managed to get a video as the high public interest seemed important. Mindadze was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison, which sparked anger among his supporters who were kicked out. The court bailiff and police then used force to kick everyone out from the courtyard too, which some of us again filmed despite restrictions. Violation of the new media ban is punishable by a fine of up to ₾2,500 ($900) or imprisonment of up to twelve days. We will see if they will use such punishment in the following weeks against us. Meanwhile, we will continue to bring the important stories to our audiences by all means possible.
