“May I shake Giorgi [Akhobadze]’s hand?” — with these words, witness Levan Beridze addressed Judge Romeo Tkeshelashvili during the trial of doctor Giorgi Akhobadze, who is accused of a drug-related offense.

The judge denied his request.

“What if I ask you, please?” — the witness asked again, to which the judge once more refused.

“Let’s be serious now. You asked, and you got the answer: no,” said the judge.

Levan Beridze is the person who was in the car with Giorgi Akhobadze at the time police stopped and searched the vehicle.

According to the witness, police also searched him as Akhobadze’s companion.

Beridze said he had come from western Georgia to attend a protest and hadn’t seen Akhobadze in a long time.

“Giorgi told me, ‘I’ve prepared sandwiches and brought water, let’s hand them out to people — I need your help.’ I was handing out water, Giorgi was distributing sandwiches. This continued until around 12:30 a.m... Giorgi’s car was parked behind the Courtyard Marriott. The night when Khabazi was beaten — it was during that same period. People were being intercepted near their homes. We were driving along the embankment [he said Akhobadze was giving him a ride home to Tsereteli Avenue], and suddenly, after passing the Queen Tamar Bridge, the patrol turned on their flashing lights. Giorgi started to slow down and said, ‘Don’t you hear something? Maybe we violated something.’"

“A patrol inspector approached — he was quite tall, and I couldn’t see his face. He asked for our IDs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another patrol officer approach. He asked us to step out of the car. Giorgi had barely stepped out when suddenly more cars appeared — one in front, another from behind. They shouted: ‘Don’t move, don’t lift your hands!’ The other cars weren’t patrol vehicles.”

“They took us to the sidewalk. Giorgi was about four trees away from me. They made us take off our jackets — I was told to remove my socks and stood barefoot for 15 minutes. I asked, ‘Should I take off my pants too?’ One officer said yes, another said no. Then they said, ‘He’s standing in the rain, let him put his clothes back on.’”

“I heard Giorgi shouting: ‘Don’t hit him!’ They replied: ‘No, we don’t hit anyone.’ After that, there was tension between me and the officers — I insulted them.”

“I pray that my children grow up to be like Giorgi. If my mother lived a little longer, it’s thanks to him. He is absolutely in the right — I know it,” the witness stated.

According to Beridze, after the search, he was taken to the Central Criminal Police Department (CCPD) building, while Giorgi Akhobadze remained with police officers on the embankment.

The witness was questioned both by the defendant and by the judge.

For context: Doctor Giorgi Akhobadze was arrested on December 7 while returning home from a protest held on Rustaveli Avenue. He is charged under Article 260, Part 6 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which concerns the illegal purchase and possession of a large quantity of narcotic substances.

This offense is punishable by 8 to 20 years or life imprisonment.