Court denies bail for 3 in June 20 rally case
19 protestors and 2 police officers have been charged over the June 20-21 protest rally in front of the parliament of Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Tbilisi City Court denied bail for Moris Machalikashvili, in addition to Ilia Memanishvili and Gogi Kurdovanidze and has left them in pretrial detention for possible incitement to violence during the June 20 rally in Tbilisi.
Machalikashvili’s defence lawyer demanded he be granted bail at 5,000 GEL. Other two demanded bail be set for their clients at - 3,000 GEL.
Machalikashvili is a close relative of Malkhaz Machalikashvili, the local of Georgia’s Muslim-populated Pankisi Gorge whose son received a deadly injury during the anti-terrorist raid back in 2017.
19 protestors and 2 police officers have been charged over the June 20-21 protest rally in central Tbilisi, including opposition United National Movement MP Nika Melia and former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili.
Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Tbilisi protests, which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament in late June, turned into a violent clash between protesters and police in front of the parliament of Georgia.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into police actions during the rally dispersal.
Then Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia said in his televised interviews that the rally became “violent” starting at 10 p.m. following “a systematic and organised” attack on the parliament building on June 20.
Gakharia also said that he gave an order that the rally was dispersed after a part of the demonstrators decided to storm the parliament building.
Two individuals have been detained for organising, leading and participating in group violence during the June 20 rally, the Georgian Interior Ministry reports. The ministry says the two took part in group violence, attacked police and attempted to storm the parliament building in an organised manner.
Three individuals have been detained for group violence against police during the June 20 rally, the Georgian Interior Ministry has reported.“As of now 12 have been charged with organising and participating in group violence during the rally, including opposition member Nika Melia,” the ministry spokesperson stated earlier today.
Four individuals have been detained for group violence during the June 20 rally in Tbilisi, which left 240 injured and 305 detained.The Georgian Interior Ministry has released a video depicting how the detainees used rubber batons and other items to physically insult law enforcers, trying to drag away their shields and use bad language against the police.
32 journalists received injuries during the June 20 demonstration in Tbilisi, many of them were shot by rubber bullet shots, the Georgian Charter of Journalist Ethics said earlier today.