“Irakli Nadiradze is a father of four children, has worked in public service for years, and is essentially your colleague, as you were the deputy chairman of the Sagarejo Municipal Council a few years ago,” said Irakli Abesadze, the lawyer for Irakli Nadiradze, a member of the United National Movement, addressing Judge Lela Maridashvili.

As Abesadze noted, the authorities have deviated from the Constitution, and the goal of the detained individuals was to restore the country’s constitutional order. Furthermore, according to the lawyer, Nadiradze had declared 15 days before his detention that the government needed to be overthrown, and the authorities should have taken measures.

“By the prosecution’s standards, this was a completed crime. At the same time, the authorities, through the regime’s Prime Minister Kobakhidze, tell us they had information that [the detainees] planned to seize the President’s Administration. Instead of preventing this, Kobakhidze said they received a tactical instruction not to take measures until violence occurred…

By their [the authorities’] logic, they knew a crime was being planned and did not prevent it? Is this a government? Then you protest when we call it a regime. A government that cares about police officers and the people would have taken measures if there was incitement and organization to change the constitutional order. Why didn’t they take measures? It turns out they allowed these individuals to harm police officers. In reality, they don’t care about their fate; they wanted to politically showcase that someone was planning an overthrow. These individuals, however, wanted to return the country to its constitutional framework.

Irakli Nadiradze is a father of four children, has worked in public service for years, and is essentially your colleague, as you were the deputy chairman of the Sagarejo Municipal Council a few years ago. In his 21 years of public service, Irakli Nadiradze has not had a single violation. He declared that the government needed to be changed and returned to the constitutional framework, and he had no intention of returning to public service. The same applies to Paata Burchuladze; they had no aim for political positions.

The question must be asked: why did they sacrifice themselves, their families, and their peace with their actions? There are few lawyers like Murta Zodelava. Did he just go and commit a crime, leaving evidence for the prosecution? Their sincere desire and constitutional goal were clear. No crime was committed by them,” Abesadze stated.

He requested the judge to release Irakli Nadiradze without pre-trial detention measures.

For reference, Murta Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze, and Irakli Nadiradze have been charged under Article 19-222, Part 2(a) of the Criminal Code of Georgia (attempt to seize and block strategic and particularly important objects, committed by a group); Article 225, Part 1 (organization and leadership of group violence); and Article 317 (incitement to violently change Georgia’s constitutional order and overthrow the state government), which provides for imprisonment of up to 9 years.

Lasha Beridze has been charged under Article 19-222, Part 2(a) of the Criminal Code of Georgia (attempt to seize and block strategic and particularly important objects, committed by a group) and Article 225, Part 1 (organization and leadership of group violence), which provides for imprisonment of up to 9 years.

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