Nino Lomjaria, the founder of the civil platform "European Orbit of Georgia," stated that more than 30 participants of the protest have been arrested under criminal law in the past few weeks, with their ages starting from 19.
She also mentioned that the court has applied the most severe detention measure—imprisonment—for every protester.
"Non-governmental organizations are actively monitoring the judicial process regarding the criminal cases against the participants of the protest actions. We regularly provide information about the identified trends and findings to both the local and international community.
According to the public sources and the information available to us, more than 30 protest participants have been arrested under criminal law. Their ages start from 19. Among the detainees are up to 10 students. Also, among the detainees are a doctor, a journalist, actors, academic field representatives, and members of political parties.
The court has applied the most severe detention measure—imprisonment—against every participant. Later, two individuals, Aleko Elisashvili and a minor, were released on bail upon the prosecution's request.
At the same time, no law enforcement officers have been detained, even though they used violence, inhuman treatment, and torture against hundreds of protesters and journalists. It is also noteworthy that the prosecutor's office and the court released members of an informal violent group, who used violence against protest participants on the streets, in exchange for bail," Lomjaria stated.
Lomjaria also mentioned that protest participants and their lawyers have raised multiple violations during the investigative and procedural actions.
"Among these, they point to illegal searches of personal and residential properties, instances of inappropriate treatment by the police during and after detention.
Some detainees talk about severe psychological pressure and physical abuse after detention (for example, the cases of Saba Khvitaridze, Revaz Kiknadze, Nika Kacia, Aleko Elisashvili, and others).
The criminal prosecution of protest participants is underway under Articles 225 (participation in group violence), 187 (damage to property), 353 prima (attack on police officers), 18-229 (preparation for an explosion), 156 (persecution), and 260 (illegal possession of large quantities of narcotics) of the Criminal Code. These articles carry prison sentences ranging from 4 to 6 years, 7 to 11 years, and 8 to 20 years, with some cases leading to life imprisonment.
It is important to note that two protest participants have been arrested on charges of illegally possessing large quantities of narcotics. One of the detainees' lawyers claims that the police conducted an illegal search without witnesses or video recording and planted narcotics on them. The second detainee points out both the drug planting and the post-detention humiliating treatment and pressure," Lomjaria concluded.
