Doctor Giorgi Akhobadze, who was charged with a drug-related offense, has been released from the courtroom. His handcuffs were removed after the court declared him not guilty just moments earlier.
The decision was made by Judge Romeo Tqeshelashvili of the Tbilisi City Court.
For context, Doctor Giorgi Akhobadze was arrested on December 7 while returning home from a protest rally held on Rustaveli Avenue. He was charged under Article 260, Part 6 of the Criminal Code, which concerns the illegal purchase and possession of large quantities of narcotic substances. This offense carries a potential sentence of 8 to 20 years, or even life imprisonment.
Giorgi Akhobadze became especially active and influential in the protest movement against Georgian Dream after the introduction of the so-called Russian law.
“Before that, my activism wasn’t even as bothersome to the regime as a mosquito bite. After the Russian law was initiated, that changed — and they took an interest in me,” Giorgi Akhobadze said in court during his testimony on July 22.
After that, he gained a large audience on social media. He shared the information and advice he had — including guidance on resisting the regime and protecting oneself from it.
During his testimony and in his final statement, Giorgi Akhobadze said that months in advance, he had anticipated — and was even certain — that they would either plant a weapon or drugs on him. He had spoken about this in video addresses across different social media platforms. Based on his observations, the regime and its agents had been laying the groundwork for this for months by posting comments under his own posts, creating a narrative in advance.
He avoided standing in the front lines where the riot police were assaulting demonstrators. He himself has a spinal injury and limited mobility. He was also caring for his bedridden mother, a stroke survivor — “the main patient of his life” — who passed away a month after his arrest.
“I had a mother to take care of, and if I myself had become someone who needed care, I had no one to take care of me,” he said during his testimony.
