Activist sentenced to nine years for throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers in 2023
Tbilisi City Court Judge Zviad Sharadze announced the sentencing in the highly publicised case on Friday. Photo: Video grab
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Lazare Grigoriadis, a 21-year-old activist who was charged with throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at police officers and setting fire to a police vehicle during March 2023 protests in Tbilisi against a proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence, has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
Tbilisi City Court Judge Zviad Sharadze announced the sentencing in the highly publicised case on Friday.
Tamar Iakobidze, the prosecutor of the case, said a “combination of evidence” had led the prosecution to expect a guilty verdict. She added Grigoriadis had identified himself in one of the video recordings as setting fire to a police car during the trial.
Defence lawyer Lika Bitadze said the family of Grigoriadis would file an appeal in the European Court of Human Rights. The family has also asked Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to pardon Grigoriadis, his mother Tamta Kalandadze confirmed.
The March demonstrations resulted in the ruling Georgian Dream party withdrawing the bill that called for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “agents of foreign influence” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia on Monday rejected claims of an individual arrested for assaulting police during last month’s protests in Tbilisi against the bill on transparency of foreign influence having had his hair shaven against his will and denied access to his legal team.
The Georgian Interior Ministry on Friday said 58 law enforcement officers had received “various injuries” while ensuring safety during the rallies in central Tbilisi on Tuesday and Wednesday that protested the Parliament’s discussion of the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday challenged Salome Samadashvili, an MP for the opposition Lelo party, on her supportive comments about Lazare Grigoriadis, the protester arrested for alleged assault on law enforcement officers during last month's public rallies in Tbilisi, by asking her if she would "thank" the latter if it was proven by courts that he "poured gasoline on and set another person on fire".
Archil Talakvadze, the Georgian Parliament’s Vice Speaker, on Monday claimed the “radical” domestic opposition had “used the youth for their political purposes” during last month’s protests in Tbilisi against the proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence.