Responding to the sentences meted out to protesters, Omar Okribashvili and Saba Meparishvili, and the emerging circumstances of their trial following their participation in the May 2024 protests against the “foreign influence” legislation, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:
“Sentencing Omar Okribashvili and Saba Meparishvili to imprisonment, through a plea bargain after months of detention at the hands of authorities notorious for torture and other ill-treatment of protesters, is a parody of justice. The case epitomizes the Georgian government’s cruelty toward those who oppose its brazen assault on the civil rights of the Georgian people.
“The severe custodial penalties imposed, under a criminal provision that fails to allow judges to consider the particular circumstances of the case (including the relatively minor damage that Omar Okribashvili and Saba Meparishvili have admitted to causing), underscore how Georgia’s criminal justice system has been weaponized to stifle dissent, instill fear, and silence free speech.
The severe custodial penalties imposed […] underscore how Georgia’s criminal justice system has been weaponized to stifle dissent, instill fear, and silence free speech
Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
“The imposition of any criminal sanctions must meet the principle of minimum intervention – in other words, the criminal justice system should only be used to the “minimum amount needed to protect society.” Custodial penalties should only ever be applied in exceptional circumstances and as a last resort.
“A key backdrop to this trial is the cruelty of police towards protesters. Disturbingly, despite extensive evidence, not a single police officer has been held accountable for brutal, unlawful use of force against protesters over the past 12 months.”
Background
On 20 January, Tbilisi City Court formalized a plea agreement for activists Omar Okribashvili and Saba Meparishvili, who were accused of damaging temporary police barriers during the May 2024 protests against the “foreign influence” law. The minor damage was estimated at 400 Georgian lari (around 140 USD) and led to the two activists being detained in pretrial detention. Both activists have reported severe abuse, including psychological harassment and coercion. Saba Meparishvili also reported being beaten by police.
Under the plea agreement, the activists, who were initially facing up to three years in prison, had their sentence reduced to two years and six months due to an amnesty passed on 17 September 2024. They are now required to serve 1.5 years in prison and one year on probation, with 10 months remaining in custody. The constitutionality of the provision under which the two men were charged – Article 187(2)(c) of the Georgian Criminal Code – is currently being challenged in a separate case on the basis that it imposes a blanket minimum term of imprisonment (of three years), eliminating judicial discretion to determine the appropriate measure of punishment in each individual case.
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