A minor was sentenced to 14 years and six months in prison after the Tbilisi City Court found them guilty of torture committed by an organized group motivated by intolerance, as well as organizing and participating in group violence, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on July 7.
The sentence was automatically reduced by one-third under Georgia’s juvenile justice code, resulting in a final prison term of nine years and eight months.
The defendant, whose identity has not been disclosed, held “fascist-Nazi ideology,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said, adding that they “organized violence and torture against people whose lifestyles were deemed unacceptable by the group, including minors, and subjected victims to physical and psychological abuse.”
The charges included two counts of “torture committed by an organized group” (Article 144¹ of the Criminal Code), as well as an additional charge of committing the same offense “knowingly against a minor,” and “organizing and participating in group violence” (Article 225). The date of the defendant’s arrest has not been revealed.
Georgian police have arrested at least 15 minors in recent months, including in January and March, on allegations of involvement in “neo-Nazi” and “radical fascist” groups that physically and psychologically abused people of various ages, including minors, with “extreme cruelty.”
The broader issue of group violence involving minors has also come into focus in connection with the high-profile murder case of 28-year-old tutor Giga Avaliani. In February, prosecutors charged the three defendants in the case – who were already in pre-trial detention over Avaliani’s killing and were later convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms – with involvement in four additional group violence incidents.
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