“Ms. Mzia was defending herself from the actions of a police officer, and by rights, she should be recognized as the victim—she is herself a victim of the system,” said Maia Kopaleishvili, a member of the “Coalition for Change” and former judge, during an appearance on PalitraNews’ program “Resume.”

According to Maia Kopaleishvili, there is court precedent where even more severe cases than a slap were not considered an attack on a police officer.

“There is Supreme Court precedent where even a more severe case was not considered an attack on a police officer. It wasn’t exactly a slap, but an even more serious incident, yet it was not prosecuted under this article. When it comes to such a minor act as a slap, especially knowing the preceding events that accompanied this slap—it was a protest by Ms. Mzia against the insult inflicted by this individual. We cannot even call this person a police officer because a police officer’s duty is to uphold law and order, not to do the opposite and insult people.

The key issue here is whether what Ms. Mzia is accused of—a slap—can be considered a criminal offense. Ms. Mzia was not recognized as a victim in any instance. No investigation was launched against that specific individual [Dgebuadze]. An investigation should also be initiated against him. Dgebuadze, as a police officer, exceeded his official authority. Ms. Mzia is herself a victim of the system, and as the lawyers say, the investigators didn’t even meet Ms. Mzia, yet they established facts and pieced them together based on their own views. It is impossible in such cases for the investigator not to meet the alleged offender. This was an astonishing revelation,” stated Maia Kopaleishvili.