Zviad Maisashvili, who was injured during the pro-European protests, stated that the Georgian authorities are making no effort to investigate the violence against the 2024–2025 protesters, even though the state has officially recognized 170 victims. Meanwhile, only 5 people have been detained.
“A year and a half has passed. We were told it was impossible to identify those involved, and now suddenly it turns out that it is possible. Far more people were involved in my case than the two being discussed. The state is not trying to investigate what happened. This is a farce and a lie,” he said.
Maisashvili noted that the closed format of the court hearings is linked to the authorities’ reluctance to reveal details of the case. He doubts that the detained individuals are indeed those responsible for his beating.
As a reminder, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia previously reported the detention of 5 people in connection with the case of violence against protester Zviad Maisashvili, politician Levan Khabeishvili, and journalist Guram Rogava. Among those detained are 3 former and 1 active member of the “special forces,” as well as an active officer of the Security Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Two of the former special forces officers are already in custody on other criminal charges.
Regarding the episode involving Maisashvili and Rogava, 3 officers of the Special Tasks Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (“special forces”) were detained—they have been charged with abuse of official authority involving violence, and one has also been charged with unlawful obstruction of a journalist’s professional activities involving violence.
All five suspects have been charged under Part 3 of Article 333 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which carries a penalty of five to eight years of imprisonment. The case concerning Levan Khabeishvili has been severed into separate proceedings.