The Tbilisi City Court has decided to keep in custody the participants of the protest against the Russian Law on so-called Foreign Agents, 23-year-old Saba Meparishvili and 19-year-old Omar Okribelashvili. Judge Natia Gudadze did not grant the defense's motion to replace imprisonment with bail for the youth.
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"It is a fact that it is political, but this government does not recognize that it is a political crime. Is this justice? We expected them to be released. There is not enough evidence to prove they are dangerous. It turns out that a 19-year-old child is considered an enemy of this country," Omar Okribelashvili's father, Giorgi Okribelashvili, told journalists.
The prosecutor stated that the defendants have been sentenced to prison as a preventive measure due to the risk of committing a new crime and fleeing. "Both of these threats are valid. There is no new essential circumstance in the criminal case that would question this reasoning of the court," the prosecutor said.
Saba Meparishvili and Omar Okribelashvili were arrested on May 16. According to the indictment, on May 14, during a protest near the Parliament building, they damaged the metal barrier belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs using both physical and metal force, causing significant material damage amounting to 400 GEL. Of this, the actual damage amounts to 250 GEL, and 150 GEL is the cost of the craft.
The detainees have been charged under Article 187, Part 2, Sub-paragraph c of the Criminal Code, which refers to group damage to property. The crime is punishable by 3 to 6 years of imprisonment.
