Seven people tried over the October 4, 2025, election-day unrest in Tbilisi, including 72-year-old doctor Giorgi Chakhunashvili, were sentenced to prison on June 19, with Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Gelashvili handing six of them five-year sentences and one a three-year sentence.
The convicted are Giorgi Chakhunashvili, Davit Zhghenti, Konstantine Kokaia, Kakhaber Mzhavanadze, Zakro Albutashvili, Davit Sturua, and Ia Darakhvelidze.
Among them, two had been free on bail, including Chakhunashvili, a pediatrician, who was taken into custody in the courtroom after the verdict was announced, while Darakhvelidze, a creative director and musician who had been released due to her epilepsy, is reported to be abroad and is expected to be declared wanted.
Six of them were sentenced to five years as they were accused of “participating in group violence and attempting to seize a strategically important facility,” while one, Darakhvelidze, received three years as she was charged only with “group violence.”
Their convictions follow the first guilty verdicts against ten people, including rally organizers and protesters, who were sentenced to prison in May, bringing the total number of convictions to 17. It also follows the release of two groups totaling 22 people, who were freed following plea agreements with prosecutors after admitting the charges.
The newly sentenced seven defendants did not admit the charges against them, which are believed could have formed the basis for plea deals and their release had they pleaded guilty, as it happened in other cases.
The convictions stem from unrest that erupted in Tbilisi on October 4, 2025, the day of partially boycotted municipal elections. Following a call by organizers of a rally promoting what they described as a “peaceful revolution,” a group of protesters attempted to occupy the presidential palace in downtown Tbilisi and were repelled by police.
Up to 60 people have been charged in connection with the events. Most were placed in pretrial detention, including former United National Movement-era Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia, who was later arrested on accusations of helping lead the unrest.
Georgian Dream officials have characterized the events as a foreign-backed coup attempt. Some government critics, however, have questioned whether the confrontation may have been facilitated by the authorities themselves, pointing to claims that sections of the palace railings had been left loosely secured.
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