Two Men Held in Jail Over Pro-Europe Protests
On January 21, a court in Tbilisi, Georgia, kept two protesters, Davit Lomidze and Temur Zasokhashvili, in jail. They were arrested on December 1 while taking part in a protest rally near the Parliament building.
The two men are accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers and setting fire to a water cannon truck. They could face up to seven years in prison if found guilty. However, their lawyers say that there is no clear evidence linking them to the crime.
Their lawyers argue that video footage does not show them committing any wrongdoing. The lawyers also claim that the evidence collected at the scene of the crime has nothing to do with the charges they are facing.
Despite these claims, Judge Nato Khujadze decided to keep the two men in jail. She believed that if released, they might commit another crime.
The next hearing in this case will take place on February 4.
This is not an isolated incident. Many protesters have been detained and charged with serious crimes over the past few months. The protests were sparked by a decision to stop Georgia’s bid to join the European Union.
Human rights groups and observers are concerned that these cases are politically motivated and that the police testimony against the accused is often inconsistent.
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