Giorgi Rikadze, Demetre Chikovani, Aleksandre Gabashvili, and other individuals used various means of communication to contact selected victims themselves, allegedly posing as girls, lured them outside, persuaded them to meet at pre-selected times and locations, ambushed them, and collectively subjected them to physical violence, which manifested in brutal beatings and verbal abuse of the victims. This was stated by Tbilisi Prosecutor Giorgi Mikaia at a briefing held at the Prosecutor’s Office while speaking about the participation of the defendants in other episodes of group violence in the criminal case of Giga Avaliani.

According to the prosecutor, Aleksandre Gabashvili, Giorgi Rikadze, Demetre Chikovani, and other individuals organized group violence on several occasions with the aim of identifying and punishing people they deemed unacceptable. They agreed to systematically select such individuals, establish communication with them, deceitfully persuade them to meet, and physically assault them.

“Within the framework of the ongoing investigation in the criminal case, other criminal facts involving these individuals have been identified:

Aleksandre Gabashvili, Giorgi Rikadze, Demetre Chikovani, and other individuals organized group violence with the aim of identifying and punishing persons they found unacceptable. They agreed to systematically select such individuals, establish communication with them, deceitfully persuade them to meet, and physically assault them. Giorgi Rikadze, Demetre Chikovani, Aleksandre Gabashvili, and other individuals, using various means of communication, themselves wrote to selected victims allegedly posing as girls, lured them outside, persuaded them to meet at pre-selected times and locations, ambushed them, and collectively subjected them to physical violence, which manifested in brutal beatings and verbal abuse. They recorded the course of the group violence on camera, stored the footage depicting the violence on mobile phones, and distributed it in targeted groups.

It has been established that the organized group carried out the following violent acts:

In the winter of 2025, Giorgi Rikadze, Aleksandre Gabashvili, Demetre Chikovani, and other individuals decided to punish and intimidate a man under the age of 30 on the grounds that he had allegedly written to the girlfriend of one of them via a social network. For this purpose, in February 2025, during nighttime hours, Giorgi Rikadze, Demetre Chikovani, Aleksandre Gabashvili, and other individuals deceitfully brought the victim to the area adjacent to Building No. 20, 3rd Microdistrict, Didi Dighomi, Tbilisi, where they physically assaulted him by repeatedly striking him with hands and feet on various parts of the body, and recorded the violence on a mobile phone.

Also, in the summer of 2025, in Tbilisi, in Didi Dighomi, near Building No. 21 of the 3rd Microdistrict, Giorgi Rikadze and Aleksandre Gabashvili, together with other individuals, brutally assaulted a pre-selected victim by repeatedly striking him with hands and feet on various parts of the body, and likewise recorded the violence on a mobile phone.

With the same purpose and motive, in February 2025, Giorgi Rikadze, together with Demetre Chikovani and other individuals, attacked a pre-selected victim in the entrance of a residential building in order to punish and intimidate a person they deemed unacceptable, physically assaulted him by repeatedly striking him with hands and feet on various parts of the body, and verbally abused him, while recording the violence on a mobile phone.

In early September 2025, between approximately 21:00 and 22:00, in a newly established park located in the 3rd Microdistrict of Didi Dighomi, Tbilisi, Demetre Chikovani and other individuals physically assaulted young people present there. They attacked the victims and physically assaulted them by repeatedly striking them with hands and feet on various parts of the body.

In the criminal case of Giga Avaliani, Aleksandre Gabashvili has been charged under Article 117(4) of the Criminal Code of Georgia (intentional grievous bodily harm committed by a group resulting in death) and, with regard to other violent crimes, under Article 225(1) and (2) (organization of group actions and participation therein accompanied by violence), which provides for a sentence of up to 14 years’ imprisonment.

In the criminal case of Giga Avaliani, Giorgi Rikadze has also been charged under Article 117(4) of the Criminal Code of Georgia (intentional grievous bodily harm committed by a group resulting in death) and, with regard to other violent crimes, under Article 225(1) and (2) (organization of group actions and participation therein accompanied by violence), which provides for a sentence of up to 14 years’ imprisonment.

Demetre Chikovani has been charged, in relation to other violent crimes, under Article 225(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code of Georgia (organization of group actions and participation therein accompanied by violence), which provides for a sentence of up to 9 years’ imprisonment. He has also been charged in the criminal case of Giga Avaliani under Articles 18 and 117(3)(l) of the Criminal Code of Georgia (preparation for intentional grievous bodily harm committed by a group), and the case is being considered on the merits by the court.

All three defendants have been remanded in custody as a preventive measure based on the prosecutor’s motion.

We also clarify that the investigation into the criminal case continues at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and if grounds for liability of any other person are identified—whether for organizing the crime or any other criminal activity—the prosecution will take appropriate legal action.

In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs continues its investigation to identify other individuals involved in the newly revealed criminal facts,” the prosecutor stated.