The witnesses are not giving any particularly incriminating testimony against the defendants either. We have nicknamed this case the "Case of the Gestures." They claim they did not hear what the defendants were saying, but allege that the defendants were using hand gestures to encourage people at the protest to enter the Parliament building, said attorney Keti Chomakhashvili, who represents Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change and one of the defendants in the so-called sabotage case, before the court hearing.

According to her, in addition to the defendants, some witnesses have also named former President of the National Bank of Georgia Giorgi Kadagidze, Chairman of the Political Council of the United National Movement Levan Khabeishvili, and the leader of the For Georgia party, Giorgi Gakharia.

The lawyer argued that Giorgi Gakharia was never at the epicenter of the events, in front of Parliament or in the surrounding area. Therefore, she said, the witnesses are giving false testimony in court.

"One out of the six witnesses in this case, in addition to the defendants, names Giorgi Kadagidze, Levan Khabeishvili, and Giorgi Gakharia.

Gakharia's case is particularly important because everyone knows he was never at the epicenter of the events, in front of Parliament or nearby. The defense is placing special emphasis on this to demonstrate that the witnesses appearing in court are lying and are not providing truthful information.

The witnesses are also not giving any particularly significant testimony against the defendants. We have called this the 'Case of the Gestures.' They say they did not hear the defendants' conversations, but claim the defendants were signaling to people at the protest with hand gestures to enter Parliament.

Giorgi Kadagidze, Levan Khabeishvili, and Giorgi Gakharia are mentioned as individuals standing alongside politicians. These same witnesses had already named these individuals during the investigation stage as well. The prosecutor is trying to point out that these individuals are not defendants in this case," Chomakhashvili said.

For reference, charges in the so-called sabotage case have been brought against Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze.

More specifically, Giorgi Vashadze and Zurab Girchi Japaridze have been charged under Articles 318(1) and 319 of Georgia's Criminal Code, relating to sabotage and assisting a foreign state in hostile activities. These offenses carry a prison sentence of 7 to 15 years.

Elene Khoshtaria has been charged under Articles 318(1), 319, and 321¹(1), relating to sabotage, providing material resources for such an offense, and assisting a foreign state in hostile activities.

Nika Gvaramia, Nika Melia, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze have been charged under Article 318(1), which concerns sabotage.

Mikheil Saakashvili has been charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code, which concerns publicly calling for the violent overthrow of Georgia's constitutional order or the overthrow of state authority.