Detail

Mate Devidze, a 20-year-old rock musician, was detained during a demonstration and accused of assaulting three police officers with a stick-like object. The prosecution's video evidence shows Devidze wielding a stick and making contact with officers, but the sequence of events and the nature of the contact are disputed.

Mzia Amaghlobeli, a prominent journalist, was imprisoned for slapping a policeman - who had abused her in the first place. After a sequence of humiliating events, sometimes equivalent to torture, the regime demanded that she ask for mercy in exchange for her freedom. Mzia refused and was sentenced to two years in prison. She is currently nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

As the founder of the student movement "Daphioni," Tsetskhladze played a leading role in demonstrations and became a central figure in student protests. Following his detention, police searched Tsetskhladze’s apartment without allowing his lawyer to be present - a clear violation of Georgian law. This is particularly significant because Tsetskhladze claims the items listed in the search report do not belong to him. The prosecution argues that he was an organizer of extremist groups. Their primary evidence is a video in which he discusses building barricades and defensive tactics. This footage, originally shared by Daphioni itself, has been reinterpreted by authorities as incitement to violence.

Gorgadze, a student and well-known football fan, was accused of plotting organized violence and preparing explosives. No clear evidence was presented during the court hearing. Despite this, the judge sentenced him to two years in prison.

Insaf, who comes from an Azerbaijani village and does not speak Georgian, joined a massive demonstration in Tbilisi and was arrested on charges of plotting violence with students from Tbilisi State University - people he had never met before. The only evidence presented was video footage showing Insaf throwing an object toward policemen. Despite the fact that no one was injured and no property was damaged, he was sentenced to two years in prison. As a result, the entire Azerbaijani community in his village now lives in fear.

Irakli Qerashvili, a 30-year-old plastic surgeon and voluntary blood donor, provided medical assistance to injured demonstrators during pro-European protests. He was charged with participating in group violence. The only evidence against him is a single photograph extracted from general protest footage, used to identify him. According to his lawyer, this only proves that Qerashvili was present at the protest. Nonetheless, the judge found him guilty of participation in violence and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Giorgi Akhobadze, a 43-year-old anesthesiologist-rheumatologist, was abruptly arrested on drug charges. He had been actively providing medical advice to demonstrators. While he was in pre-trial detention, his mother died due to a lack of medical care. After nine months in prison, Akhobadze was found innocent and released, revealing that dozens of police officers had given false testimony regarding the drug charges.

Giorgi Mindadze, a 21-year-old medical student, was arrested on December 1st in the Mtskheta municipality while visiting his cousin’s house with his mother. The prosecution presented a photograph showing him holding pyrotechnics, and a police officer’s testimony claiming that the pyrotechnics thrown by Mindadze caused him injury. According to the lawyer, there is no corroborating evidence - including in the interrogation protocol—that the pyrotechnics hit the officer or even about the direction of the firing. Additionally, the investigator provided incorrect information to the court about the location of the arrest.

Katamadze is a leader and activist from the Turkish ethnic Georgian community, who has lived in Georgia since 2012. Known as the “Batumi Flag-Bearer” for always carrying the Georgian flag during protest rallies, the 57-year-old has long fought for Georgian citizenship, but has been repeatedly denied. Authorities cited immigration law as the reason for his detention, stating that Katamadze had no legal right to reside in Georgia. He was later deported to Turkey, where he is being persecuted for his alleged ties to the Gulen movement.

Russian dissident Anastasia Zinovkina sought refuge in Georgia after being persecuted in her home country. She participated in demonstrations against the war in Ukraine. During the pro-European protests, she was distributing coffee and tea before being kidnapped by masked policemen. According to her, she was a victim of sexual abuse during detention. Together with her boyfriend, she was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of drug possession.