Poet Zviad Ratiani was arrested at a protest rally near the parliament on charges of assaulting a police officer.

As InterpressNews was told by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ratiani was arrested under Article 353 of the Criminal Code, which refers to assaulting a police officer.

The crime is punishable by 4 to 7 years in prison.

Ratiani was arrested near the parliament on the night of June 23.

In a video posted on social media, one of the heads of the patrol police, Davit Mamageishvili, states that Ratiani physically assaulted a police officer: “He approached a police officer and hit him, for absolutely no reason,” Mamageishvili stated.