The Tbilisi City Court sent Tamaz Elizbarashvili, a prominent government-critical animal rights defender, to pre-trial detention after prosecutors charged him with making threats following a confrontation at a Tbilisi restaurant reportedly involving the staff of the pro-government TV Imedi channel. He faces penalties ranging from a fine to up to a year in jail if convicted.
Prosecutors allege Elizbarashvili, 63, issued threats against several people during an August 30 verbal confrontation at a Tbilisi restaurant and later returned to the scene armed. Elizbarashvili denies the allegations, accusing the group of insulting and threatening him during the incident. The defense also denied Elizbarashvili carrying a weapon.
Elizbarashvili, who runs a dog shelter, was initially detained on September 1 on administrative charges of disobeying police, as police first stopped his car and later searched his home as part of the criminal probe into making threats and illegal purchase and possession of firearms. Criminal charges of “making threats” were brought against him on September 3.
The Prosecutor’s Office also released surveillance footage on September 4 that it said showed Elizbarashvili returning to the restaurant and “presumably” concealing a weapon under his jacket before later “presumably” placing it in his car. The footage shows Elizbarashvili’s right hand hidden under his jacket near his chest, and later shows his hand released and jacket open as he returns to the scene after walking to and leaning into his car. However, no weapon is visible in the footage.
According to Netgazeti, the criminal case features up to seven people as alleged victims, with at least part of them — Shako Kutchashvili, Jaba Khubua, Sandro Gamsakhurdia and Nika Kldiashvili — working for the pro-government Imedi TV. Kutchashvili, a pro-government figure co-hosting Imedi’s “Fake Control” podcast on social media, said on Facebook on September 4 that he was the person involved in the initial verbal confrontation with Elizbarashvili.
During the September 4 hearing, Elizbarashvili disputed his accusers’ account, saying seven people confronted him at the restaurant over his social media posts and demanded an apology. “I told him, ‘I don’t know you. What should I apologize to you for? If there was something, show me where I insulted you and then we’ll see,’” he told the court.
Elizbarashvili said the group identified themselves as Imedi employees and told him, “We don’t like your position. You often insult us, and you have to apologize.” He alleged that one member of the group swore at him, spat at him and threatened him, while others told him he could not leave until he apologized.
The defense argued that prosecutors had presented no evidence to support the criminal charge against Elizbarashvili, further arguing he wasn’t carrying a weapon and his hand was on his chest as he was feeling unwell, according to RFE/RL’s Georgian Service.
Earlier, in an August 31 Facebook post, Elizbarashvili addressed employees of the channel, saying they had “really crossed the line” during the encounter at Restaurant Skhva and demanding an apology by the end of the day.
In a subsequent livestream, he said about eight people identifying as Imedi TV employees confronted him over his social media posts, accusing them of pressuring him to apologize. Elizbarashvili said he refused to apologize, left to take his wife home, and returned 25 minutes later to find the group gone. He repeated his demand for an apology during the livestream, warning: “If you don’t apologize, I will find you one by one, make you kneel and [f…] you in the mouth.”
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