Tbilisi City Court judge Nino Shcherbakov found all five activists who were arrested by the police in front of the parliament building on June 2 guilty. Eduard Marikashvili was holding a blank piece of paper, while Saba Brachveli, Nika Romanadze, Grigol Prangishvili, and Nodar Sikharulidze held placards reading ‘’Ira-kli’’ [vulgar wordplay on PMs’ name].
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Judge Scherbakov fined Nodar Sikharulidze 2000 GEL for disobedience to police and petty hooliganism, and others – 500 GEL for petty hooliganism.
‘’This decision does not concern just us who were arrested, tried, and punished for our actions. The decision affects everyone because these actions were declared illegal for everyone in the future. One of the purposes of punishment is to change the offender's behavior for the better, but the purpose of this illegal trial and punishment is to dissuade me from further continuation of my work. No matter how severe the punishment, it would not achieve this goal.
I am not going to stop my rights protection activities – on the contrary’’ - is what Eduard Marikashvili had to say regarding the September 27 ruling by the judge.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that all five persons violated the public order during the June 2 protest, insulted the policemen, and did not comply with their demands.
In the video footage of the arrest, a police officer can be heard saying that no one has the right to insult the country's prime minister.
The detained human rights defenders were not allowed to call their lawyers for several hours. All three of them were transferred from the capital to the Telavi temporary detention center in the countryside and were released only after the maximum 48-hour period of administrative detention had expired.
Human rights defenders and civil activists gathered near the parliament on June 2 after the police arrested three people, including lawyer Shota Tutberidze. Tutberidze was sitting on the stairs in front of the Parliament and held a poster with the inscription "Ira-kli" at his feet. With posters of this nature, citizens expressed their protest against the Georgian government's foreign policy, and Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili, who said on May 30, at the Global Security Forum in Bratislava, that ‘’one of the reasons for the start of the war was Ukraine's intention to become a member of NATO.’’
Judge Nino Scherbakov sentenced journalists Zurab Vardiashvili and Beka Jikurashvili, who were illegally arrested at the rally against the so-called ‘’Russian Law’’ on agents. They were both found guilty and fined 2200 GEL each.
The European Court of Human Rights has recognized the arrest of protestors based on the content of banners, including obscene slogans, as a violation of the right to freedom of assembly and association. One of the last decisions regarding Georgia was made on December 15, 2022.
Nino Scherbakov has been a judge since December 1, 2020. By the decision of the Supreme Council of Justice, she is appointed as a judge of the Administrative Affairs Board of the Tbilisi City Court for life.
