Tbilisi City Court has sentenced activist Albi Kordzaia to 10 days of administrative detention over a protest outside the home of Georgian Dream MP Tea Tsulukiani. Kordzaia was accused of insulting the politician.
Kordzaia, along with several other activists, held the protest outside Tsulukiani’s home in April, in response to a comment Tsulukiani made about Georgian soldier and prisoner of war Giorgi Antsukhelidze, who was tortured to death during the August 2008 War.
Tsulukiani currently chairs a parliamentary commission established by the ruling Georgian Dream party in February to investigate alleged crimes committed by the formerly ruling United National Movement (UNM). Among the accusations leveled by the current authorities is that the UNM and then-President Mikheil Saakashvili provoked the August 2008 War.
It was during a discussion of the commission’s work that Tsulukiani, in a televised interview, referenced Antsukhelidze, implying that he had been ‘pointlessly sacrificed’ for a PR stunt by Saakashvili.
Following the interview, Kordzaia went twice to protest outside Tsulukiani’s home on the nights of 11 and 12 April.
According to local media, during Wednesday’s court hearing, representatives of the Interior Ministry emphasised that during the protest outside the MP’s residence, Kordzaia used a loudspeaker to chant phrases such as ‘slave of Russia’ and ‘traitor to the country’, which the ministry claimed caused discomfort not only to the MP and her family but also to other residents.
Kordzaia was charged under one of the many laws passed by Georgian Dream amidst the ongoing anti-government protests, which introduced insulting officeholders as an administrative offence. The article provides for both an fine of up to ₾4,000 ($1,500) or administrative arrest for up to 45 days.
Earlier, on 30 May, Tbilisi City Court sentenced two activists, Tatia Apriamashvili and Lika Lortkipanidze, to administrative detention for 12 days, following a complaint filed by Georgian Dream MP Mariam Lashkhi, who said they had verbally insulted her. Another activist involved in the incident, Magda Mamukashvili, was fined.
In another case, on 23 May, the Zugdidi court fined two local activists, Mariam Sichinava and Keren Esebua, for insulting ruling party MP Irakli Zarkua during an altercation near one of the city’s hotels.
Mikheil joined OC Media after a long career as a journalist at Netgazeti, focusing on politics, human rights and the wider region. He has an academic background in Arabic Studies and maintains a strong interest in Arabic language, Egyptian cinema, and the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said his government is lobbying among EU states to revoke visa-free travel to the bloc for Georgian citizens.
Tusk made the comments while speaking about immigration in an address to the Polish parliament on Wednesday, before winning a crucial vote of confidence in his government.
‘We are building the necessary majority to limit or suspend visa-free travel with Georgia, among others’, he said. ‘Yes, this is also my intention, in the full knowledge that a t
