The brothers Tamaz and Tornike Chelidze, who were arrested in April 2021 in Gumati for a fight during the protest rally against Namakhvani Hydropower Plant in the Rioni River Gorge and sentenced to 4 years in prison, were pardoned by President Salome Zourabichvili. They are among the 11 convicts pardoned by the president today.
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“We were arrested on unfair, fabricated, and pre-prepared charges and handed a baseless four-year sentence. What did we serve 2.5 years for?! For being outspoken and active, that’s what,” said Tornike Chelidze.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested the brothers Tornike and Tamaz Chelidze, their cousins Gela and Irakli Chelidze, as well as the brothers Revaz and Firuz Tsulukidze on April 14, 2021, in Batumi. The Ministry released a statement claiming that on April 12, at the Gumathesi settlement, the men committed group violence and inflicted physical injuries on three people at the rally against the construction of the Namakhvani HPP. Chelidze and Tsulukidze were charged with organizing and participating in group violence. Later, Eldar Antandze was also arrested within the same case on charges of participating in group violence.
The detainees did not confess to the crime. They pointed to persecution on political grounds for opposing the Georgian Dream and the Chairman of the Government of Adjara, Tornike Rizhvadze. According to them, the conflict was initiated by the “victims” themselves by verbally and physically insulting them in order to provoke them. According to case files, one of the victims was the acting president of the Georgian Strongmen Federation, Avtandil Akhvlediani. It was his complaint that prompted the investigation.
In December 2021, Kutaisi City Court Judge Tatia Gogolauri issued a guilty verdict against all seven defendants - Chelidze was sentenced to 4 years in prison, and Antadze and the Tsulukidze brothers - to 5 years.
“We were jailed unjustly and without grounds. I wasn’t there [in Gumathesi settlement] and neither was Irakli Chelidze. We were arrested on conjecture. My brothers, stay strong. I will do everything to end this injustice. Let’s fight and defeat this injustice together and let this unfair government go, which arrests decent, courageous, and patriotic Georgians like us. There will be a fight against this regime. I won’t just forgive my 2,5 years and the tears of my brothers,” says Tamaz Chelidze after his release.
Ten of the 11 convicts pardoned today by the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, were released with immediate effect, while one of them had his sentence reduced.
