In Georgia, a civil activist was sentenced to nine years
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The Tbilisi City Court sentenced the activist of the opposition party “Droa” Lazare Grigoriadis to nine years in prison on the charge of burning a police patrol car during mass actions against the draft law on “foreign agents” in March of last year.
The prosecutor’s office claimed that 22-year-old Grigoriadis threw “Molotov cocktails” at soldiers of a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the clashes near the parliament building.
The activist pleaded not guilty. His lawyers call the criminal case fabricated and politically motivated. The leader of the “Droa” party, Elena Khoshtariya, said on the eve of the verdict that the authorities were “trying to scare young activists” who are ready to oppose “the ruling party’s attempts to pass the notorious law”.
The other day, the ruling Georgian Dream party re-initiated the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” despite fierce criticism both within the country and from Western partners.
His parents and leaders of political parties, as well as non-governmental organizations, attended the announcement of Lazar Grigoriadis’ sentence. After the court session, they went to the residence of President Salome Zurabishvili and filed a petition in the name of the head of state to pardon the convicted activist.
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