Irakli Chkhvirkia, who was convicted in the October 4, 2025 “peaceful overthrow” case, has left the penitentiary facility. He was released under a plea agreement, reports the Georgian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“If something better awaited a person on the outside, I would be happier, but given today’s situation, the mere fact that I got out of prison gives me no particular reason to be happy,” Chkhvirkia said.
According to him, “restoring Georgia’s territorial integrity and national unity” is his plan for the future. In his hands, the activist held a book published by the Soviet Past Research Laboratory (SovLab): “Abkhazia (1917–1921) — Reconstruction of Memory.”
The prosecutor’s office had charged Irakli Chkhvirkia with an attempted group seizure of facilities of special importance and participation in organized group violence. The Tbilisi City Court sentenced him to 5 years of imprisonment in this case.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Chkhvirkia was sentenced to an actual prison term of 1 year and 1 month, while 2 years will be considered a suspended sentence.
Earlier today, another individual convicted in this case, Nana Sander, also left the penitentiary facility.
A number of those convicted in the “October 4 case” are entering into plea agreements at the appeals stage. On November 4, opposition politician and former Prosecutor General Murtaz Zodelava, along with former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Lasha Beridze, left the penitentiary facility.
In the case concerning the events of October 4, 2025, charges were brought against 64 individuals, including political figures. On that day, alongside municipal elections in Georgia, a mass protest took place in Tbilisi calling for the “peaceful overthrow” of the government. A group of demonstrators attempted to break into the presidential palace but was dispersed by riot police.