Okmelashvili
On May 15, 2024, in Tbilisi, Giorgi Okmelashvili, the founder of the advertising company "Limoni" and a former rugby player, was arrested by the police on his way to work. His arrest was related to his participation in ongoing protests against the "Agents Law." The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) quickly released a statement accompanied by a video recording from their own surveillance, according to which Okmelashvili was charged with assaulting a police officer, an offense carrying a sentence of 4 to 7 years in prison. "During the protest, the detainee inflicted facial injuries on police officers with elbow and fist strikes," the statement said.
Following the arrest, police searched Okmelashvili's residence and workplace. According to the MIA, on May 13, during a protest in front of the Parliament, Okmelashvili physically assaulted police officers. His lawyer stated that during the search, in addition to equipment, clothing was also seized from his home. The MIA reported that Okmelashvili had previous convictions for various offenses, including violence and resisting police orders. Okmelashvili's brother-in-law recalls a single incident about a year and a half ago when Okmelashvili had a conflict with Russian citizens who were verbally abusing Georgia while intoxicated.
«At first, I thought there was some misunderstanding and that after clarification, they would release me. Every day was strange, I kept expecting to be released, but since these events started, I'm convinced that they are not the ones who will let us go. The goal is exemplary punishment, and they will punish us exemplarily. The main thing is fort others not to be afraid and not to give up.»
Notably, "Limoni" company did not produce videos for street protests against the "Agents Law" and was not under any form of persecution before the founder's arrest. For context, it is also important to mention that after the leader of the Georgian Dream party, Mamuka Mdinaradze, estimated the number of participants at the May 11th rally to be only 20,000, "Limoni" published a humorous post on Facebook joking that the rally's visuals were created by them. According to a company employee speaking to Radio Liberty, this was intended as a joke reflecting a broader trend on social media at the time, but the post was later deleted.
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It is also important for context, that in 2023, "Limoni" received modern virtual production equipment through the USAID/Georgia Economic Security Program. The Georgian government has frequently accused the U.S. Agency for International Development of funding "revolutionary forces" in Georgia.
In a December 2024 interview from prison with Radio Liberty, Okmelashvili recalled the May 13th incident, stating that the police actions were provocative and led to a scuffle. "It seems ridiculous now, but the aggression that day was real. Black-clad individuals, seemingly 'Zonder' squads, periodically left the police line and assaulted demonstrators. As a former rugby player, I have enough experience in scuffles to react adequately. During this melee, I prevented these individuals from dragging away weaker protesters to be beaten more severely. It was in this pushing and shoving that the incident I'm accused of occurred."
On May 16th, Okmelashvili's charges were aggravated to include possession of a small quantity of narcotics, although this charge was later dropped. Okmelashvili's trial began on July 16th.
The trial was marked by delays. On December 12th, Judge Giorgi Gelashvili extended Okmelashvili's pre-trial detention by two months. According to the lawyer, similar to other trials of those arrested during these demonstrations, the process was deliberately delayed to prevent President Salome Zurabishvili from exercising her right to pardon.
The lawyer requested the judge's recusal, citing repeated delays and the aforementioned decision, but the judge dismissed the argument as unfounded. The judge declined a request to hold the next session the following day, stating, "I have other cases tomorrow."
«You have been handling non-custodial cases while a detainee's criminal case should be a priority. This gives me reason to believe you are intentionally delaying proceedings»
On January 15th, the narcotics possession charge was dropped due to an amnesty law passed by Parliament.
On January 24th, the parties were given the opportunity to negotiate a plea deal. Baramia stated that the judge had postponed the session on his own initiative, hoping the prosecution might offer a deal to the defense.
«The defense's position is clear: Giorgi Okmelashvili is innocent; he acted in self-defense. The court knows this very well, which is why it hopes a plea deal can be reached. This should be the prosecution's initiative. We do not need any initiative because the defense's position is clear and supported by evidence. The court finds it difficult to issue a guilty verdict because the main witness provided false information, on which the charge is based. Naturally, the judge faces a moral dilemma. Therefore, he suggested another postponement and encouraged both parties to negotiate »
However, the court seemingly ignored this dilemma and the evidence, sentencing Okmelashvili to 5 years in prison on February 4th. After the verdict was announced, Okmelashvili sang a song from the "Shapito" circus. The lawyer plans to appeal the decision and take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
On March 17th, Okmelashvili's wife stated that her husband had been transferred to a closed-type facility in Ksani, contradicting his sentence, which stipulated a semi-open facility, and that neither the family nor the lawyer had been informed.
She said the family learned "entirely by chance" that Okmelashvili had been moved because a scheduled video call did not take place, as Okmelashvili was no longer at the facility in Gldani. Tamta Chkheidze stated that it took them a long time to find out where her husband had been transferred.
During the protests against the "Agents Law," no specific individuals have been held accountable for alleged cases of abuse of power/violence by law enforcement, despite numerous videos depicting harsh treatment and severe beatings of demonstrators by police and special forces. Dozens of people were arrested during the spring protests, with some charged with assaulting police officers and damaging property."