According to the Prosecutor's Office, the Prosecutor's Office has charged 5 individuals with organizing and leading group violence, attempting to seize a strategic and special-importance facility, violently changing the constitutional order of Georgia, and calling for the overthrow of the state government. These individuals include leaders of the Rustaveli Avenue movement - Paata Burchuladze and Murtaz Zodelava, member of the National Movement Irakli Nadiradze, one of the leaders of the Strategy Builder movement Paata Manjgaladze, and Colonel Lasha Beridze. The charges against them provide for up to 9 years of imprisonment as a form and measure of punishment.

“Within the framework of the investigation ongoing in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it has been established that Paata Burchuladze, Murtaz Zodelava and Irakli Nadiradze, in order to mobilize citizens who are aggressive towards the government, gather them and involve them in violent actions, made public calls several days before the local government elections to change the constitutional order of Georgia by force and overthrow the state government. In particular: Irakli Nadiradze, Paata Burchuladze and Murtaz Zodelava called on the public to call for a revolution, in which aggressive citizens were to participate. According to their statement, they would jointly overthrow the state government and for the effective implementation of these actions, it was necessary to involve and unite certain groups of society in it.

The investigation also established that on the day of the local government elections, on October 4, Paata Burchuladze, Murtaz Zodelava, Irakli Nadiradze, Lasha Beridze, Paata Manjgaladze and other individuals decided to organize group violence and announced through mass media that they were organizing and leading group violence.

On the same day, Paata Burchuladze introduced the citizens gathered at the protest rally in Freedom Square to the action plan they had developed, according to which the participants in the group violence were to immediately arrest individual government officials and carry out various unlawful measures of influence on persons they did not want.

After Paata Burchuladze announced the criminal plan, Murtaz Zodelava called on the participants in the group violence to move together towards the administrative building of the President of Georgia, which was to be taken by force. Following the above-mentioned call, Paata Burchuladze, Irakli Nadiradze, Lasha Beridze, Murtaz Zodelava and other persons participating in the group violence headed from Freedom Square towards the Presidential Administration Building. On the streets surrounding Orbeliani Square, the participants in the group violence, using heavy objects and setting fires, deliberately destroyed municipal and private property located in the surrounding area, and used some of it to set up barricades on the roadway in order to resist law enforcement officers and prevent the restoration of law and order.

After the organizers of the criminal actions and participants in the violent group arrived at the Presidential Administration Building, which is a strategically important and special object, in order to break in, they damaged the iron fence as a group, after which Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze, Irakli Nadiradze, Lasha Beridze and a number of participants in the group violence broke into the yard of the President's Administrative Building, during which they verbally and physically abused law enforcement officers. They attacked law enforcement officers with stones and other heavy objects.

As a result of the above actions, the protective fence of the strategic facility was significantly damaged, the infrastructure in the surrounding area, municipal and private property were destroyed. As a result of the active actions taken by government representatives to protect public order and restore law and order, the criminal plan to block and seize the strategic facility - the Administrative Building of the President of Georgia - was not implemented, and Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze, Irakli Nadiradze, Paata Manjgaladze and Lasha Beridze were soon arrested by law enforcement officers.

Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze and Irakli Nadiradze were charged under Article 19-222, Part 2, Sub-paragraph “a” (attempt to seize and block objects of strategic and special importance, committed by a group); Article 225, Part 1 (organization and leadership of group violence) and Article 317 (call to change the constitutional order of Georgia by force and to overthrow the state government) of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for up to 9 years of imprisonment as a form and measure of punishment.

Lasha Beridze was charged under Article 19-222, Part 2, Subparagraph “a” (attempt to seize and block strategic and special importance objects, committed by a group) and Article 225, Part 1 (organization and leadership of group violence) of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for up to 9 years of imprisonment as a punishment.

Paata Manjgaladze was charged under Article 225, Part 1 (organization of group violence), which provides for up to 9 years of imprisonment as a punishment.

The investigation into the criminal case at the Ministry of Internal Affairs continues in order to detect and identify other persons involved in the crime.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia thanks the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Service, the Special State Protection Service for special measures carried out on October 4 with the highest standards," the Prosecutor's Office said.