At the Tbilisi City Court hearing, lawyer Guja Avsajanishvili, representing detainees Nikoloz Javakhishvili and Insaf Aliev, argued that his client had not committed a crime during the recent protest rallies.
Avsajanishvili acknowledged that Javakhishvili was seen in video footage firing pyrotechnics but emphasized that they were launched into the air, not toward police officers. “Firing pyrotechnics into the air is not a crime,” he said after the session.
The defense claims that six witnesses testified in interrogation protocols that they had continuously observed Javakhishvili during the protest and confirmed he did not direct pyrotechnics at law enforcement. “Every word in those protocols is indisputable, and the prosecution itself accepts them as truthful,” Avsajanishvili noted, stressing that the prosecution did not challenge the witness accounts during its closing statement.
The lawyer further argued that the prosecution failed to explain how the alleged crime was committed or to prove that any of the accused were leading others in organizing violence.
The prosecution, however, maintained that video evidence and expert analysis confirm Javakhishvili was firing pyrotechnics toward police, thereby endangering officers’ lives and health. It also accused Aliev of throwing objects at police and helping to set up barricades to block the roadway.
Eight individuals are standing trial in connection with the protest near Parliament.
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Three defendants — Zviad Tsetskhladze, Vepkhia Kasradze, and Vasil Kadzelashvili — are charged with organizing and leading group violence, facing 6 to 9 years in prison if convicted.
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Five defendants, including Javakhishvili and Aliev, are charged with participating in group violence, carrying potential sentences of 4 to 6 years.
Header image: IPN
