Tbilisi court jails seven more over October 2025 unrest

A Tbilisi City Court has sentenced seven more defendants to prison terms of up to five years in connection with unrest that followed an anti-government protest on 4 October 2025.

Among those convicted was prominent paediatrician Giorgi Chakhunashvili, 71, who was taken into custody in the courtroom after being sentenced to five years in prison. Chakhunashvili had remained at liberty throughout the trial after prosecutors opted not to seek his pre-trial detention amid a public campaign in his support, News.Az reports, citing News Georgia.

Art director and DJ Ia Darakhvelidze was sentenced to three years in prison. She did not attend the hearing and is reportedly outside Georgia. Having previously been released on bail due to health concerns, she could now be placed on a wanted list.

Also sentenced to five years in prison were former Central Election Commission employee Kakhaber Mzhavanadze, mechanic Davit Zhgenti, pensioner Konstantine Kokaia, builder Zakro Albutashvili and student Davit Sturua.

The defendants were convicted on charges including participation in group violence and attempting to seize a strategic facility. According to prosecutors, they were among protesters who tried to break into the presidential residence on Atoneli Street following a rally in central Tbilisi.

Before sentencing, the defendants rejected the charges and refused to admit guilt in exchange for lighter punishment.

Chakhunashvili told the court he had entered the grounds of the presidential residence solely to provide medical assistance, saying he would have acted the same way again. Mzhavanadze described the case as “absurd”, insisting there had been no attempt to storm the residence, while Sturua alleged investigators had pressured him to confess.

According to News Georgia, the convictions form part of the broader “4 October case”, which involves 15 defendants. More than half have accepted plea deals, admitted guilt and received suspended sentences.

Albutashvili had also been offered a plea deal that would have resulted in a suspended sentence, but rejected it at the last moment and announced a hunger strike in solidarity with detained opposition politician Elene Khoshtaria.

The unrest occurred on 4 October 2025, the day of Georgia’s municipal elections, which were boycotted by much of the opposition. After a rally on Rustaveli Avenue calling for a “peaceful revolution”, some demonstrators moved towards the presidential residence and attempted to breach the perimeter, leading to clashes with police.

The authorities described the events as an attempted coup backed by external forces, while opposition groups have called them a government-orchestrated provocation.

A total of 65 people, including politicians, activists and protest organisers, have been charged in connection with the events. Ten people have already received prison sentences, including opera singer and civic activist Paata Burchuladze and several opposition politicians, each of whom was sentenced to seven years in prison, News Georgia said.

News.Az