According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the police officers affected in the March 7-8 protests against the so-dubbed Russian Law, with the support of the legal department of the Ministry, appealed to the President of Georgia to refrain from pardoning Lazare Grigoriadis.
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According to the MIA, the authors of the appeal are those law enforcement officers who, during the March 7-8 protests, received various severe bodily injuries, including by arson.
‘‘The officers made the decision to appeal to the president after it was repeatedly reported that the family members of Lazare Grigoriadis and human rights defenders were asking Salome Zurabishvili to pardon him.
The affected policemen believe that the pardoning of the person who attacked them by the president will create a feeling in society that an attack on the defenders of public order can go unpunished.
Law enforcement officials note that the pardon may refer to the charge of violence against a family member - also brought against Lazare Grigoriadis. However, they believe that in such case, this would not be an ordinary pardon of a person who has committed such a crime, but will send a message to the public that the state is forgiving when it comes to assaulting a police officer, violence, and family crimes.
The said move will call into question the effectiveness of fighting against such types of crime and undermine the efforts made by state institutions.
As additional grounds for the appeal, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs cite the fact that in 2019 the President of Georgia pardoned the person convicted of the murder of 22-year-old policeman Tarash Mukbanyan, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison and left in 5,’’ - said the statement released by the MIA.
21-year-old Lazare Grigoriadis was arrested on March 29. He is charged with attacking a police officer and burning a police car during the March protests against the so-called Law on Foreign Agents. He remains in custody. If found guilty, he faces 7 to 11 years in prison.
The maximum nine-month term of pretrial detention for the case of March 7-8 protests expires on December 29, after which the accused can no longer be kept in custody. Earlier, on September 25, the court sentenced Lazare Grigoriadis to 1.5 years in prison for a case of domestic violence from two years ago. Even if he is found not guilty of assaulting a policeman and burning a police car, he will remain in prison.
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili repeatedly violated the presumption of innocence of Lazare Grigoriadis. On April 3, the PM said that "he [Lazare] intended to burn the policeman alive." Then, during his June 30 speech in the Parliament, Gharibashvili declared Lazare Grigoriadis guilty once again: "Some filthy nobody decides to throw a Molotov cocktail directly at the police and burn them alive. I don’t care who he is. I am appalled. I will be absolutely firm and uncompromising here. This is an attack against the state. Let everyone know this. Why are they not defending him now? Why are they not rescuing him from prison? No one can get him out of prison. No one can save someone who raises a hand against the police.
The Tbilisi City Court refused three times to accept Lazare Grigoriadis's lawsuit against Irakli Gharibashvili and the chairmanship of the Georgian Dream party. Lazare Grigoriadis sued for defamation, demanding rejection of the statements harmful to honor and dignity, and the imposition of 2 GEL each for Gharibashvili and Kobakhidze as compensation for moral damages.
