Niko Khurtsilava, who has been charged with assaulting stand-up comedian and anti-government protester Onise Okriashvili, has been released on GEL 5,000 (approximately USD 1,900) bail. Tbilisi City Court Judge Tamar Epitashvili issued the ruling on July 25, granting the prosecution’s request for bail.
Okriashvili was physically assaulted near his apartment in Tbilisi late on July 22, following several days of negative campaign by pro-government media over a joke referring to acclaimed 20th-century Georgian writer Nodar Dumbadze and featuring profane language. Okriashvili and his supporters argued that the media had deliberately misrepresented his joke, which they said was part of a hypothetical discussion, not intended to insult the writer but rather to illustrate the absurdity of such an insult.
The video from the scene showed Okriashvili surrounded by at least three men during the attack, with the assailants bringing up Dumbadze’s name. The comedian later told the media he was “beaten by two or three men,” saying that the attack was either incited or orchestrated by the ruling party and describing the campaign and the attack as “political persecution.”
Police reported arresting Khurtsilava early on July 23, hours after the Interior Ministry said that the suspect voluntarily showed up at the police department. Khurtsilava was later charged under Article 126 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which covers “violence” and carries penalties ranging from a fine or 120 to 180 hours of community service to six months to two years of house arrest or up to one year in prison.
In a July 24 statement announcing charges against Khurtsilava, the Prosecutor General’s Office said he physically assaulted Okriashvili “because of the insult of Georgian writer Nodar Dumbadze.”
In a lengthy statement, posted on social media by his defense lawyer, Khurtsilava said he was aware that he’d be punished for his behavior, but claimed there were moments “when inaction is a bigger crime than action.” He described Okriashvili’s remarks to be among “anti-Georgian actions” by what he called “agents.”
Khurtsilava drew support from pro-government circles. In a Facebook post calling Khurtsilava “a patriot and true Georgian,” Georgian Dream MP Dimitri Samkharadze offered to stand as a guarantor for his release on bail.
The attack fueled concerns about the role of pro-government media in inciting violence to silence government critics, particularly as pro-government channels continued their campaign after the assault, circulating videos of additional jokes by Okriashvili and accusing him of “insults.”
“We sense an alarming threat,” Public Broadcaster for People (Sazmau Khalkhs) platform, uniting protesters campaigning for the impartiality of Georgian state television, said in a statement. “For over a week, the pro-government media outlets have not only incited an attack on Onise Okriashvili, but it has been their direct order,” the platform said, holding “those who are launching this campaign, protect the assailants, and approve of this behavior” responsible should “something happen” to Okriashvili or his loved ones in the future.
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