The Tbilisi City Court found Zurab Japaridze, the leader of “Girchi - More Freedom” and party member Nika Mosiashvili, who were arrested during March protests against Russian-sourced law “on foreign agents,” guilty and fined both of them 2500 GEL.
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According to the lawyer, the resolution by Judge Irakli Chikashua will be appealed in the court of appeals.
“The evidence proved that Zurab Japaridze and Nika Mosiashvili did not commit any crime. We have unbroken footage, including from the parliament building cameras, which proves that policemen who testified in court were not at the scene of the arrest at all and in fact, committed perjury by giving false testimony. They should be held accountable,” stated the lawyer.
Zurab Japaridze and Nika Mosiashvili were arrested during the March 7 protest on administrative charges of disorderly conduct and police disobedience. They are denying verbally or physically assaulting the police.
According to Japaridze, after his illegal arrest, he was taken to the yard of the state agency on April 9 Street and beaten with hands, feet, and clubs.
“In fact, this case is not about the arrest of Mosiashvili and me. We didn’t attack anyone verbally or physically. On the contrary. The members of special forces started beating the young kids when I (footage shows) stood with my back to them to shield the kids, and that’s when they dragged me back. They were dragging me and hitting me. Inside the gates (the gates on April 9 Street), they continued beating us with hands, feet, and clubs. The cuts on my head are from clubs.
‘’I continued talking to the police, after which they beat us standing, hitting us in the jaws. They told us if I don’t stop talking, they would continue, after which I stopped. They were special forces members, all were masked, I remember their eyes,” said Japaridze.
Members of the opposition party were taken to the Tbilisi City Court on March 9, after the expiration of the pre-trial detention period, but due to their health condition, their trial was postponed. Nika Mosiashvili was diagnosed with a concussion and had to be taken to the hospital. Zurab Japaridze also had head injuries.
The Special Investigation Service has started an investigation into the possible abuse of authority by the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs against Japaridze and Mosiashvili. The investigation revealed that the nearby cameras of the public institution located at the place of their arrest were damaged.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested 135 participants of the protests on March 7-9, including media representatives. 133 persons were detained on administrative charges of disorderly conduct and police disobedience. Two detainees - Lazare Grigoriadis and Tornike Akopashvili are charged with assaulting a police officer. Trials of these cases are still ongoing.
