Saba Skhvitaridze—like dozens of other participants in civil protests—was punished for taking part in and helping to organize demonstrations against the regime - the case is perceived as political retaliation against an opposition activist and reflects systemic problems in the Georgian justice system, - the non-governmental organization Transparency International - Georgia reports.

According to them, the scale of the fraud committed by the police, prosecutor's office, and court in Saba Skhvitaridze's case indicates that he is a prisoner of conscience.

“The case of Saba Skhvitaridze represents an example of legal and political persecution by the “Georgian Dream” regime against a civic activist. On September 3, 2025, the Tbilisi City Court found Skhvitaridze guilty of intentionally causing minor bodily harm and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment. The judgement is unfounded and is based on false testimonies and dubious video material. Skhvitaridze has been known as a member of the political party “New” and as a civic activist who actively participated in anti-government and anti-Russian demonstrations.

During the proceedings, the prosecution initially charged Skhvitaridze with a serious crime — harming a police officer’s health during the performance of official duties, which carries a sentence of 7–11 years of imprisonment which, in our assessment, is an example of the prosecution’s abuse of the criminal justice process. Later, the charge was downgraded to a lesser offense, but the later charge was as arbitrary and unlawful as the original one.

The court failed to uphold the fundamental principles of a fair trial — the presumption of innocence, impartial assessment of evidence, and the rule to decide in favor of the accused in case of doubt. Additionally, information regarding physical violence against Skhvitaridze by the police was ignored.

The court based its judgement on police officers’ identical and mutually contradictory testimonies, a photo-based identification, and a video taken from social media, whose origin and authenticity were not verified. The person depicted in the video is not Saba Skhvitaridze and that the court relied on inadmissible evidence. Furthermore, the testimonies of defense witnesses, which confirmed Skhvitaridze’s innocence, were disregarded.

The case is perceived as political retaliation against an opposition activist and reflects systemic problems within Georgia’s justice system. The extent of falsehood allowed by the police, the prosecution, and the court in this case indicates that Saba Skhvitaridze is a prisoner of conscience”, the organization says.