The Tbilisi City Court has issued a guilty ruling against student Sandro Sekhniashvili, fining him 3,000 GEL (approximately $1,150).
The Ministry of Internal Affairs charged the young man under Article 166 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which covers petty hooliganism. The student was accused of singing the song “Ole-ola” at a protest rally — a chant containing insults directed at government officials.
Defense lawyer Data Kashiashvili described the court’s ruling as absurd, pointing out that the decision was handed down on the basis of video evidence lacking sound. According to him, the materials submitted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not capture his client’s voice, and some of the recordings were completely silent.
“The judge relied on these video recordings and concluded that Sandro Sekhniashvili was singing, which I find completely absurd: it is impossible to determine from a silent video whether a person was singing or not,” the lawyer emphasized.
Sandro Sekhniashvili himself pointed out that he is not visible at all in part of the submitted footage, while in another video he is simply chatting with a friend, which in no way proves that he was singing. According to the student, the court’s predisposition toward a guilty verdict was evident to him from the very beginning.
“Even on our way here, we understood that the decision was already predetermined, and we did not expect a fair trial,” the student said.
During the hearing, a police representative argued that the footage they presented clearly showed the young man moving his lips along with the song — that is, singing. Sekhniashvili’s defense maintained that lip movement alone proves nothing, and that determining whether he was singing or merely speaking with someone would have required an expert examination.
Ultimately, the judge sided entirely with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
