4 accused of attacking journalists at Tbilisi Pride counter rally denied bail
Detainees Akaki Nakashidze, Tornike Davlasheridze, Ilia Kebadze and Temur Kharauli plead not guilty. Photo: IPN.
Tweet 
Share
Four individuals have been sentenced to two months pre-trial detention for verbally and physically assaulting employees of TV Pirveli and Mtavari TV on July 5 at the counter-rally against the Tbilisi Pride March.
Detainees Akaki Nakashidze, Tornike Davlasheridze, Ilia Kebadze and Temur Kharauli plead not guilty.
I did not commit any kind of violence, I just was there. I did not attack journalists and no one attacked me. I am innocent", Kebadze said.
Nakashidze said that he only wanted to share his opinion 'as an Orthodox man and then chaos engulfed everything ... it happened due to emotions'.
The defence demanded bail of 5,000, 3,000 and 2,000 GEL, while the prosecution demanded the use of the most severe measure of restraint against the detainee and asked bail be denied due to the nature of the crime.
Prosecutor Tamar Iakobidze said that the court considered the threat of committing a new crime by the accused, the risk of hiding and the threat of influencing witnesses to be high and the detention would neutralise these threats.
The defence however claims that there was not enough evidence to arrest the above-mentioned individuals.
Four defendants who attacked journalists at the Tbilisi Pride march counter rally on July 5 have been denied release on bail. Three defendants were sent to pre-trial detention for a violent attack on the journalists and cameramen of Tabula, New post agency, TV channels Rustavi 2 and Mtavari Arkhi and the fourth one for the physical assault of the cameramen of Palitranews.
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze has briefed the media and public on recent developments concerning violence at the Tbilisi Pride counter rallies of the past couple of days.
Giorgi Khmaladze, detained for stabbing a Polish journalist on Khetagurovi Street on July 5, will face criminal charges. Prosecutor Giorgi Shaishmelashvili said that Khmaladze has been convicted of robbery in the past, and asked Tbilisi City Court to refuse him bail.
Four more right-wing activists have been arrested for assault, persecution and group violence against journalists and cameramen during the Tbilisi Pride counter rally on July 5.
TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava, 36, was found dead at home this morning. Lashkarava was one of the 53 media representatives who were attacked by right-wing groups during the Tbilisi Pride counter rally on June 5.
Five more people have been arrested for group violence, persecution and assault of journalists and three people have been detained for damaging the office of Tbilisi Pride during a right-wing counter rally on July 5. Three of the 32 detainees from the rally of July 6 were fined for administrative violation, the maximum fine of which is 3,500 GEL (about $1,107/€934).