Iya Siranashvili, the lawyer representing businessman and animal rights activist Tamaz Elizbarashvili, claims that police detained him at the moment he was attempting to jump from a balcony. It is precisely for this that he is accused of disobeying police officers.
“When Mr. Tamaz saw them beating me, pushing his wife and knocking her to the floor, and heard the crying of his frightened children—faced with all this violence, the man fell into despair and decided to take his own life, namely, by attempting to jump from the balcony. At that exact moment, he was detained by the very same police officers who were beating me. They drove a man to an attempted suicide, and now they are charging him with disobedience,” Iya Siranashvili told reporters.
Another defense lawyer, Lekso Svimonishvili, stated that after being transferred to a temporary detention facility, Elizbarashvili became unwell and required hospitalization.
“Late at night, after Mr. Tamaz was placed in the detention center and I visited him, he lost consciousness right inside the cell, after which he was rushed to a clinic. He regained consciousness at the hospital. He attributes what happened to inhumane treatment by police officers, including psychological pressure, overtightened handcuffs, and so on. He documented this fact at the detention facility, and today an investigator from the city prosecutor’s office has already questioned him in the presence of his attorneys,” Svimonishvili told the Formula television channel.
Earlier, it was reported that Tamaz Elizbarashvili had launched a hunger strike in protest.
As a reminder, the previous day, officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs searched the entrepreneur’s car and subsequently his apartment. The founder of the dog shelter was under investigation on the basis of two articles of the Criminal Code: making threats (Article 151) and unlawful acquisition, storage, and carrying of firearms (Article 236).
During the apartment search, a conflict broke out, after which the businessman was taken into administrative custody under an article concerning disobedience to a lawful order of a police officer. At the same time, Elizbarashvili’s lawyer Iya Siranashvili stated that she had been subjected to violence by law enforcement officers during the search. An investigation into the matter has been opened.
Elizbarashvili himself maintains that the complaint against him was filed by employees of the pro-government Imedi TV channel, with whom he had a verbal altercation at a Tbilisi restaurant on August 30. According to the businessman, the television crew attacked him first and issued threats over his political stance.
