Irakli Kupradze, oppositional Lelo General Secretary, who was arrested at the rally against the Russian law, was released from the session hall of the Tbilisi City Court after two days of imprisonment.
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During a television interview, Irakli Kupradze recalled the details of his arrest and the physical punishment against him:
"I saw that one of the citizens was being beaten and knocked unconscious. When I came to help him, I was hit by hands, legs, and batons from all four sides, there was swearing. They arrested me in just 20 seconds and took me along the entire 9 April street with terrible physical punishment. They took me to the corner of Ingorokva, where they had a car. They took me through the so-called corridors of the special forces, where everyone beat me. They stopped me near the car; they didn't even put me in the car, and they continued to beat me there for about 2 minutes."
Irakli Kupradze said that Zviad Kharazishvili, the Internal Affairs Ministry Special Tasks Department director, saw him and oppositional Girchi - More Freedom member Gela Khasaia in the police car.
"When they put me in the car, the so-called Khareba - Zonder, who used to beat and terrorize people during the National Movement and now during the Georgian Dream, came to the open door. He looked at me and Gela Khasaia, seeing that we were badly beaten, and went on his way with a satisfied smile. Probably, he should have looked in other cars to see the beaten citizens there too. Blood was flowing from our noses and lips.
"This happened at the behest of Bidzina Ivanishvili. It was revenge. On the way, they told us - 'It's because of the Russian law,' 'It's because of Ivanishvili,' 'It's because of Khareba,' and they beat us. I have bruises in about 15 places on my body, which were examined and documented by the Samkharauli expert. I am proud of every bruise because I know why the Russian baton hit us," says the Lelo General Secretary.
Irakli Kupradze and Gela Khasaia were administratively detained during the April 16 rally. The Internal Affairs Ministry accuses them, along with the rest of the detainees, of petty hooliganism and disobedience to the legal demands of the police.
Gela Khasaia was also beaten. "The police kept repeating to us that it was in the name of Kobakhidze, in the name of Gharibashvili, in the name of Gomelauri, etc. I was led to the car when one of the masked men told me that they were beating me so much that I would not go to the next rallies. I say all this without embellishment. I don't want to repeat the words that they said to us, as they cursed us. It was not the first time I was arrested, but I have not seen such treatment and physical or verbal abuse at any rally," said Khasaia after his release.
The trial of Irakli Kupradze and Gela Khasaia will be held on April 24th.
