Latest news with #anti-GeorgianDream
Civil.ge
03-07-2025
- Civil.ge
Protester Giorgi Mindadze Sentenced to Five Years in Jail over ‘Assaulting' Police
Giorgi Mindadze, a 21-year-old medical student, was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of assaulting police — the fifth guilty verdict handed down in the criminal cases against dozens detained since November 2024 for their involvement in anti-Georgian Dream protests. Judge Nino Galustashvili delivered a verdict on July 3, during a hearing with limited media coverage, coming just days after new restrictions on courtroom recording took effect . The verdict came on a tense day at Tbilisi City Court, with dramatic scenes of confrontations between bailiffs and Mindadze's supporters erupting in the court corridors. Part of the supporters were forced to leave the building. 'Fight as long as at least one person has hope and faith to win this fight,' Mindadze wrote in a letter brought to the hearing by his foster mother, Nani Tsulaia, a leading voice in the campaign to free detained protesters. The verdict was delivered on Tsulaia's birthday. Mindadze was detained in early December and tried for allegedly injuring a police officer with pyrotechnics during a rally on November 29. The charges carry a sentence of four to seven years in prison. The defense dismissed the allegations as lacking evidence. The allegations in Mindadze's case were based on video footage showing a young man – allegedly Mindadze – setting off fireworks during a rally. The man has half of his lower face, under the nose, covered with a medical mask. The video doesn't show the trajectory or the exact destination of the shots. Prosecutors alleged, however, that the firework landed behind the riot police cordon and exploded, injuring an officer in the leg. They cited separate footage, which they said was recorded at the time of the incident, showing a firework exploding behind the police line. Prosecutors claimed the explosion was caused by the firework launched by Mindadze. Shmagi Jachvadze, a riot police officer identified by the prosecution as the alleged victim, testified before Tbilisi City Court in May that he sustained burns on the leg from a pyrotechnic explosion launched by one of the protesters. During his testimony, he identified Mindadze as the protester responsible. Jachvadze said he was examined by ambulance staff but did not go to the hospital, treating the burns himself. In the initial weeks of protests that erupted in response to Georgian Dream's announcement of halting EU integration, protesters intensively launched fireworks in response to violent police dispersals. Authorities later cracked down on the sale and use of pyrotechnics. 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. Mindadze is the fifth protester to be convicted among those arrested since November 2024. Earlier convictions include Mate Devidze , Denis Kulanin, Daniel Mumladze and Guram Khutashvili , all of them 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. Seven 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 68 persons who were jailed in 2024-2025 and whose charges are believed to be politically motivated. This post is also available in: ქართული
Civil.ge
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Civil.ge
Elene Khoshtaria Goes On Hunger Strike as 'New Form of Struggle'
Opposition Droa party leader Elene Khoshtaria announced a hunger strike, saying it is a 'new form of struggle.' 'Now that the regime has launched a new attack and arrested practically all of the opposition, I want to declare a new form of struggle — one that is not emotional or thoughtless, but victory-oriented,' Khoshtaria told reporters as she was announcing her 'firm decision' in the evening of June 27 in front of the parliament building on Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue, the epicenter of ongoing non-stop anti-Georgian Dream protests. She vowed not to leave Rustaveli Avenue, citing tragic reports of detained protesters losing family members while in custody. At least three inmates have lost parents since their arrest over protests that erupted after Georgian Dream's late-November announcement to halt EU accession. The most recent case is the death of the father of Onise Tskhadadze, a well-known comedian currently on trial for group violence. 'If you can't see the value of life, the value of freedom […] here's my life, here's my freedom too — and you still can't beat us,' Khoshtaria said, addressing the ruling Georgian Dream party. She went on to say in her 'statement to people' that the 'only way' is 'revolution and their overthrow from the street.' 'I can't tell anyone when to take to the streets, go on hunger strike, go to prison, or come out,' Khoshtaria said. 'I can only say this with my example: I am ready to sacrifice myself against the regime — and I will.' Six people, including five active opposition leaders, have been sentenced to several months in prison in recent days for refusing to appear before the Tsulukiani Commission in the Georgian Dream parliament, which they consider illegitimate. Two more are awaiting final rulings while in pre-trial custody. All three other leaders of the Coalition for Change, an election alliance formed ahead of the 2024 parliamentary vote, which includes Khoshtaria's Droa, are currently jailed: Zurab Japaridze from Girchi – More Freedom has been sentenced to seven months, Ahali's Nika Melia to eight months, while Nika Gvaramia, Ahali's other leader, currently remains in pretrial detention anticipating a similar sentence. Also Read:
