Judge Irakli Shvangiradze has left in pretrial detention several of the defendants arrested in connection with the events of October 4: Paata Burchuladze, Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Manjgaladze, Irakli Nadiradze, Lasha Beridze, Irakli Shaishmelashvili, Tornike Mchedlishvili, Nika Gventsadze, Guri Zhvania, and Irakli Chkhvirkia.
Prosecutor Vazha Todua cited, among the grounds for extending their detention, the alleged risk of evidence being destroyed. One of the defendants, Irakli Chkhvirkia, compared his situation to that of former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who was granted bail.
“I was angry I was thinking I wouldn’t come to the court at all. But protocols remain; everyone’s lies and truths are recorded. I thought maybe I should still come, maybe the judge will actually make their own decision.
Does anyone believe that I, Irakli Chkhvirkia, who works as a taxi driver and doesn’t have any influence, would come to your office to the prosecutor’s office and destroy some piece of evidence on a flash drive: a 13-second video where I appear in about 45% of the frames? I wish there were an hour and a half of footage from all angles, so it would clearly show what I was doing on October 4. Does anyone believe that I could exert more influence than Garibashvili or Juansher Burchuladze?” Chkhvirkia said during the hearing.
The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Irakli Chkhvirkia of participating in group violence and blocking a strategic facility the Presidential Palace. He does not plead guilty to the charges.
“The prosecutor lied. Supposedly, Irakli Chkhvirkia was doing something inside the residence yard. I remember everything in detail: I was standing outside, on the asphalt in front of the yard. When they released gas, I covered my face; with my eyes half-closed I saw the ambulance lights flashing, I walked toward them, some people helped me, they rinsed my eyes with water and that was all I did there. If I am lying to you today, then you have full legitimacy moral and personal to never believe anything I say again. When we arrived at the presidential residence, I saw a broken fence and people climbing in and out.
I’ve worked in the police, I was an investigator, I’ve had case files brought into prison for a lawyer I understand how things work. I did not enter the yard, I didn’t injure anyone, I didn’t throw stones, and I never threatened to arrest Qavleliashvili. With full awareness, no criminal act was committed by me,” Chkhvirkia said in court.
A total of 64 people have been arrested in the October 4 case. Their cases have been divided into five parts.
Some of them are charged with participating in group violence; others with organizing that violence; some with blocking a strategic facility. Several defendants are charged under multiple articles.