Five were fined and four sent to administrative detention among the ten protesters and activists arrested in Tbilisi on July 26 for holding what the Interior Ministry described as “insulting banners.” The banners referred to Georgian Dream honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Tbilisi City Court Judges Zviad Tsekvava and Tornike Kapanadze split the cases, issuing rulings from the evening of July 28 into the early hours of July 29. The fines ranged from GEL 3,000 to GEL 6,000, while detention terms varied from five to ten days.
Tornike Toshkhua was fined GEL 3,000 (around USD 1,100). Vasil Beridze, Sandro Sekhniashvili and Marine Nanava each received a GEL 5,000 fine (around USD 1,900). Mariam Mekantsishvili was ordered to pay GEL 6,000 (around USD 2,300). Ia Melitauri and Nato Bolkvadze were sent to five days in detention, while Shako Baghdoshvili and Lasha Dgebuadze received ten days in detention. The announcement of the ruling for Tornike Tikaradze was postponed.
They were all arrested on Sunday night outside the Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo) building on Liberty Square and charged under Articles 166 and 173 of Georgia’s Administrative Offenses Code, which cover “petty hooliganism” and “disobeying a lawful order of police.”
Toshkhua was arrested first while holding a banner that read: “Is Bidzina [Ivanishvili] a dk? Yes or No.” His arrest prompted other protesters and activists to arrive at the scene in solidarity and hold banners with the same wording. The nine were then arrested amid tensions, with police forcibly removing some protesters from the group and placing them in police vehicles.
The Interior Ministry said the protesters were carrying “insulting banners” but did not specify whom the banners targeted. It also accused them of “voicing insulting phrases, disrupting public order, and resisting law enforcement officers.”
A day after their arrest, on July 27, police arrested another protester, Nodar Tsitsriashvili, at the same location while he was holding a banner with the same wording. The court has yet to rule on his case.
Several of those detained had previously served administrative detention terms in protest-related cases. Toshkhua was released from prison in early July after serving nearly 10 months following his conviction, along with another protester, on a “group violence” charge in a case linked to an incident involving a pro-government figure on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue.
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