18-year-old Sandro Jokhadze, arrested during a demonstration against the Russian Law, was deemed a lawbreaker by Koba Chagunava, the Tbilisi City Court judge, and fined 2200 GEL.
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12th-grade student Sandro and his older brother, Chavchavadze Center researcher Giga Jokhadze, were arrested late on April 16 at the rear entrance of the parliament. The Internal Affairs Ministry argued that both violated Articles 173 and 166 of the Administrative Offenses Code, which involve disobeying a police officer's lawful request and engaging in petty hooliganism. Today, Giga Jokhadze was also deemed a lawbreaker and fined 2500 GEL.
Police officers provided evidence against the brothers. According to lawyer Jano Chkadua, the
The Internal Affairs Ministry failed to present any evidence confirming the breach of the cordon.
"The policemen, all four of them, lied and gave false testimony to the court. This was confirmed not only by the evidence presented by us, but also by the representatives of the Internal Affairs Ministry themselves, who brought a video recording that proves how Sandro and Giga Jokhadze were arrested. The policemen claimed they were arrested when they breached the cordon, but the video shows they were actually arrested when they were about 100-200 meters away from the cordon," said Jano Chkadua.
After the trial, Sandro Jokhadze himself commented. According to him, he will most likely not appeal the decision because he has no trust in the Georgian court.
"This fine will be a source of motivation for me. It indicates that I fought for the country in the right place, at the right time, and I will definitely continue this fight," said the school student.
Today, Judge Koba Chagunava imposed a fine of 2500 GEL on another rally participant, Giga Beradze, and yesterday, on April 24, he fined the Lelo general secretary, Irakli Kupradze, 2500 GEL as well. Gela Khasaia, the Girchi - More Freedom member,, was deemed a lawbreaker and fined 2600 GEL.
On April 19, during his speech in Parliament, Internal Affairs Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri stated that 40 people were administratively detained during the protests against the Russian Law.
On April 3, 2024, the ruling Georgian Dream once again initiated the Russian Law on Foreign Agents in Parliament, which had been withdrawn a year ago due to thousands protesting and the promise that it would never be adopted again. The Russian Law requires independent media and non-governmental organizations that work with grant support from international organizations and cannot be controlled by the government or related groups to register as Foreign Agents. Protests against the Russian Law have been taking place in Tbilisi, near the parliament, since April 15.
