“If Irakli Chkhvirkia was committing violent acts, why hasn’t a single piece of footage shown it? With the same success, the Prosecutor’s Office could charge me with preparing to murder or rape Kavelashvili,” Irakli Chkhvirkia said during a court hearing, commenting on the events of October 4 near the Atoneli Palace, in connection with which he was detained.

At the hearing, the court examined video material presented by the prosecution specifically against him. Chkhvirkia spoke at length about this footage and stated that it does not prove his guilt.

“In 2008, I ran away from home to take part in the war. I have never even served in the army, I am my mother’s only son. In 2022, I was in Ukraine to fight…

If here [near the Atoneli Palace] I had called on someone and then ran away - damn the mother of such an Irakli Chkhvirkia!

I was ashamed of myself when the prosecutor said that I allegedly called on someone and then fled.

In this video, you can see that my eyes are burning from the gas, and then I leave.

In the earlier videos we reviewed, I discovered that police officers were standing in the palace courtyard, wearing body cameras on their chests, with shoulder cameras turned on. In addition, as Vaja [the prosecutor] stated, police officers were recording the ongoing process. It turns out that amid all this commotion, with so many television crews filming and cameras from cafés and restaurants operating, they have only one single clip against Chkhvirkia - where his eyes are burning, and at the same time he is supposedly calling on his comrades and running away? Why is it that Chkhvirkia does not appear in any other actions? If Irakli Chkhvirkia was committing violent acts, why has not a single piece of footage shown it? With the same success, the Prosecutor’s Office could charge me with preparing to murder or rape Kavelashvili. I am truly offended that such an accusation was made against me - that Irakli Chkhvirkia was supposedly running away from the battlefield,” Chkhvirkia stated.

For reference:Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze, and Irakli Nadiradze were charged under Article 19–222, Part 2, Subparagraph “a” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which concerns an attempted seizure and blockade of strategic and especially important facilities committed by a group. They were also charged under Article 225, Part 1 (organization and leadership of group violence), and Article 317 (calls for the violent change of Georgia’s constitutional order and the overthrow of state authority), which carries a sentence of up to nine years’ imprisonment.

Irakli Shaishmelashvili was charged under Article 317, which concerns public calls for the violent change of the constitutional order or the overthrow of state authority, punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.

Lasha Beridze was charged under Article 19–222, Part 2, Subparagraph “a,” and Article 225, Part 1 (organization and leadership of group violence).

Irakli Chkhvirkia, Nika Gventsadze, and Tornike Mchedlishvili were charged under Article 19–222, Part 2, Subparagraph “a,” and Article 225, Part 1. These offenses carry a sentence of six to nine years’ imprisonment.

Guri Zhvania was charged under Article 225, Part 2, which concerns participation in group violence.

Paata Manjgaladze was charged under Article 225, Part 1, which concerns the organization of group violence and carries a sentence of six to nine years’ imprisonment.