Tbilisi Court Remands Pro-European Protesters Accused of Group Violence

The Tbilisi City Court has remanded 11 people detained at the protests in custody: Andro Chichinadze, Onise Tskhadadze, Guram Mirtskhulava, Jano Archaya, Luka Jabua, Ruslan Sivakov, Revaz Kiknadze, Giorgi Terashvili, Valery Tetrashvili, Sergei Kukharchuk and Irakli Kerashvili. The case has entered the merits stage.

One of the defendants, Revaz Kiknadze, took the floor at Friday's hearing.

"I often hear government officials complain: 'They were hired, financed and misled by someone else.' I demand that anyone who says this provide evidence. Such gossip and backbiting will not go unpunished, because slander is also a crime, and the government will not always keep the judicial system in its hands, and everyone will definitely have to answer. When I am accused of being hired by someone to stand where everyone else should be, this is a huge insult to me,” the accused said.

The defendants are charged under Article 225 of the Criminal Code (participation in group violence). It provides for a punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 4 to 6 years.

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