In the case concerning the attack on journalist Guram Rogava, special forces officer Guram (Goga) Kirkitadze was sentenced to five years in prison and banned from engaging in professional activities for three years.
As Rogava told the publication Netgazeti, he was notified by phone on November 12 of the verdict handed down by the Tbilisi City Court by the case’s new prosecutor, Lasha Gamkrelidze. According to the journalist, who had been granted victim status, the prosecutor’s office had not contacted him at all prior to this.
Guram Rogava had expected that before the verdict was delivered, during the trial on the merits, he would be questioned as a victim. However, as the prosecutor explained to him, the court and the defense had recognized the charges as uncontested, which is why questioning the journalist was deemed unnecessary.
Thus, Netgazeti notes, the court sentenced the special forces officer without questioning the victim and without even inquiring about his position.
Rogava himself expressed distrust in the case materials, stating that the so-called evidence was essentially blank sheets of paper. This is how the journalist explains why the case was heard behind closed doors, asserting that the prosecutor’s office concealed the truth from the public.
According to Rogava, the real attacker is still at large and, due to his involvement in other high-profile cases, enjoys guarantees of immunity from the regime. The journalist had openly stated from the outset that the detained Kirkitadze might not have been the actual attacker.
As for the formally detained special forces officer, according to the journalist’s information, the authorities made a deal with him: in exchange for a false confession, he received financial benefits and the promise of early release.
As a reminder, a special forces officer attacked Guram Rogava in November 2024 during the dispersal of a protest in Tbilisi while the journalist was reporting live from Rustaveli Avenue. The officer ran up to the Formula TV reporter and struck him, causing him to fall to the ground. As a result of the attack, Rogava suffered facial bone fractures and injuries to his cervical vertebrae.
