Latest news with #Jikia
OC Media
6 days ago
- Politics
- OC Media
Georgian court sentences 19-year-old to 4.5 years in prison for ‘attacking a police officer' during a protest
Join the voices Aliyev wants to silence. For over eight years, OC Media has worked with fearless journalists from Azerbaijan — some of whom now face decades behind bars — to bring you the stories the regime is afraid will get out. Help us fuel Aliyev's fears — become an OC Media member today Become a member Tbilisi City Court Judge Tamar Mchedlidze has sentenced Saba Jikia, a 19-year-old participant of anti-government protests, to four years and six months in jail for 'attacking a police officer'. Jikidze never pleaded guilty and has maintained his innocence. Jikidze was arrested on 5 December on charges of 'hitting a police officer' with his leg during a protest on 30 November. The victim in this case is an employee of special operative department Beka Gotiashvili, who during the trial stated that he did not receive any injuries. During the last hearing on 10 July, Jikia delivered his final words. Following the new media ban implemented by the ruling Georgian Dream party, the media is not allowed to record video, audio, or photo during trials. Nonetheless, photos of his handwritten speech were later posted on social media. 'I am not really happy about the fact that I will have to go to prison from four to seven years with absurd charges and that I have to spend my youth in jail, but my arrest had some positive results as well, I got to know amazing boys, I learned the price of freedom, what situation our country is in and the best part is that I will have amazing stories to tell my grandchildren. I will not be ashamed to tell them, because we stand on the right side of history', he said in his letter. Jikia added that he kept coming to court to meet his friends and supporters. 'To show you that we are not afraid and we didn't break. But I still have inner fear. I am scared of defeat, because I don't want future generations to judge us for this defeat', he said. Advertisement 'I am scared of the defeat because I don't want kids to be raised in an unjust country and a dictatorship. So I will do however I can, I will fight till the end. It is weird to hear this from a 19-year-old boy, but this is how it is, my friends. I won't give up'. 'Will it be four years and six months???', from a note Saba Jikia wrote earlier in June at one of his trials predicting his sentence. Photo: Mindia Gabadze/Publika In its coverage of the verdict, the pro-government media outlet TV Imedi, wrote that Jikia had been convicted of 'attacking a police officer with a knife' despite the fact that a knife was never a subject of discussion during Jikia's trial. Post TV, another pro-government media outlet, published a post with an apparently AI-generated, Studio Ghibli-style anime depiction of Jikia holding a knife as other protesters beat up police in the background. An attached caption read, 'prisoner of conscience for opposition, violent criminal Saba Jikia in reality'. Journalists said that Judge Mchedlidze's announcement of the verdict was met by sadness and tears from his friends and supporters. Jikia's lawyer, Guja Avsajanishvili, told journalists after the announcement that Mchedlidze had already prepared the verdict in advance, as the amount of time she took to make a ruling would not have been enough to write the text she read to the court. 'This means that Mrs Tamar came to the final speech with an already written verdict. This means that the judges come to trials with their attitudes formed already', he said. Apart from Jikidze, Tbilisi City Court sentenced two other protesters, Mate Devidze and Giorgi Mindadze, for 'attacking a police officer'. Devidze was sentenced to four years and six months, while Mindadze to five years in jail.
Civil.ge
6 days ago
- Politics
- Civil.ge
19-Year-Old Protester Saba Jikia Sentenced to 4.5 Years in Jail Over ‘Assaulting' Police
Saba Jikia, a 19-year-old protester detained during the early weeks of ongoing protests, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison on charges of assaulting a police officer. Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili delivered the verdict on July 10, during a hearing with limited media coverage, just weeks after new restrictions on courtroom recording took effect . 'I have to spend my youth in prison,' Jikia told the court in his final remarks, as quoted by RFE/RL's live blog. 'But my arrest has had its advantages too: I found a new family… I met other very good boys [inmates]… I realized the value of freedom, and I'll have a great story to tell my grandchildren. I stand on the right side of history.' Jikia was arrested on December 5, 2024, a week after the non-stop protests broke out in response to Georgian Dream's announcement on halting European integration. He turned 19 on June 26. He was accused of kicking a fallen riot police officer. The charges of assaulting a police officer carry a prison sentence of four to seven years. However, lawyers had argued that the law allows courts to apply juvenile justice measures to defendants under 21, which could result in a more lenient sentence if the defendant is found guilty. The allegations are based on video evidence where a young man, whom the prosecution identifies as Jikia, is seen swinging his leg at a fallen man dressed in black and wearing a helmet, after the latter is pushed to the ground amid the confrontation with other protesters. Witness Beka Gotiashvili has testified as a riot police officer in the episode. In the audio recording from the hearing, published by Publika, Gotiashvili is heard confirming he was hit in the extremity, but denies sustaining any injuries. Defense argued it is unclear from the video whether there is actual contact between a young man, allegedly Jikia, and the fallen man, and complained they were not allowed to question an expert on the matter. According to the lawyer, Jikia couldn't identify the fallen man as a police officer, as he wore no insignia. The lawyer further claimed that it was also impossible to establish whether the fallen man was Gotiashvili, the testifying riot police officer. 'It is not established that Saba Jikia was conscious of whether the [fallen individual] was a citizen, law enforcer, or a representative of any other organization,' Guja Avsajanishvili, Jikia's lawyer, told Netgazeti in June. 'We know that there were numerous people with similar clothing at the rally.' According to Avsajanishvili, if the policeman had any identifying sign on his uniform, the uniform would have been presented by the prosecution as evidence, which was not the case. The violent police dispersal in the first weeks of the protests came amid concerns over the involvement of so-called 'men in black' — often masked individuals wearing no police uniforms or identification. Their anonymity is thought to have further enabled the impunity of those who used excessive force. The initial period also saw repeated incidents of thug violence, with masked men, so-called Titushki, who were widely believed to be linked to the ruling Georgian Dream party, attacking protesters. No police officer has been held accountable despite numerous documented abuses during dispersals. Dozens of protesters, however, remain in jail on criminal charges, convicted or awaiting their verdicts. Jikia is the sixth protester to be convicted among those arrested since November 2024. Earlier convictions include those of Giorgi Mindadze , Mate Devidze , Denis Kulanin, Daniel Mumladze, and Guram Khutashvili , all of whom were sentenced to years in jail. Seven more remain in prison after being convicted over their involvement in the spring 2024 protests against the foreign agents law, including Omar Okribelashvili, Saba Meparishvili, and Pridon Bubuteishvili, who were convicted in January, Davit Koldari, Giorgi Kuchuashvili, and Giorgi Okmelashvili , who were convicted in February , as well as Irakli Megvinetukhutsesi, convicted in December. Eight individuals, including six active opposition politicians, were recently sentenced to prison terms of several months for defying the Georgian Dream investigative commission. , a recently created civic platform, currently lists 66 persons who were jailed in 2024-2025 and are considered political prisoners. Also Read:
