Georgian opposition figure arrested for social media comment
Lasha Chkhartishvili, a member of the Georgian Labor Party, was arrested for five days for a comment posted on Facebook*. Police officers transferred the opposition figure to a temporary detention facility directly from the courtroom.
As reported by Caucasian Knot, at the end of January, Lasha Chkhartishvili, one of the leaders of the Labor Party, reported that the court had dismissed his latest administrative charge for standing on the sidewalk and returned the materials to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for initiating criminal proceedings against him.
According to amendments to the Law "On Assemblies and Manifestations" adopted by the Georgian Parliament, restrictions previously imposed on holding rallies on roads apply to sidewalks and pedestrian streets as well. To hold a march, a notification must be submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and violations are punishable by arrest. Repeated violations, such as blocking a sidewalk near a government building, will result in criminal prosecution.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs filed an administrative violation report against the politician for a comment published on October 4 on the social media page of the news outlet "Netgazeti." The article under which the detainee wrote the comment was titled "Do Sidewalks Have to Be a Place of Assembly?" Pirveli TV reported today.
The comment was directed at Judge David Makaradze. "Is it really necessary to attend the funeral of such scum?" reads the comment published under Chkhartishvili's name. The Ministry of Internal Affairs deemed the politician's insult to the judge.
Lasha Chkhartishvili himself stated that the comment may not have been his. According to the politician, he doesn't recall writing a comment of that content.
"I wasn't even assigned a public defender; half the trial went by without one, and only then was I given the opportunity to hire another lawyer. However, I repeat, even in the Soviet Union, people were assigned defense attorneys. In this case, I'm accused of commenting on someone else's Facebook post*. Whether this comment was mine remains to be proven, because I personally don't remember it, although I share the spirit of the comment. Although the form was a bit crude, it might not even be mine," the opposition leader stated in court.
Despite all the defense's arguments, the Tbilisi City Court found politician Lasha Chkhartishvili an administrative offender and sentenced him to five days in jail.
Protesters in Georgia have been demanding new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners since November 28, 2024. Security forces violently dispersed the protests, using tear gas and water cannons, and detained protesters. Over 1,000 people were subjected to administrative prosecution during the protests. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report, "Key Points to the Persecution of Protest Participants in Georgia."