Batumi City Court's sanctioned judge, Viktor Metreveli, has announced the verdict in the case involving Mamuka Jorbenadze, Dean of the Batumi Art University, and students Anri Kakabadze, Davit Gvianidze, Guram Mikeladze, and Giorgi Davitadze.
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The judge found all five defendants guilty of group violence. Pianist Anri Kakabadze, who had been in pre-trial detention until now, was sentenced to 9 months in prison.
Mamuka Jorbenadze, Dean of the Faculty of Visual, Stage and Film-TV Arts, was fined ₾20,000. He will have to pay ₾18,000 of this amount, as he had spent two months in pre-trial detention.
The judge ordered bail of ₾17,000 each for students Guram Mikeladze, Davit Gvianidze, and Giorgi Davitadze. This amount was ultimately reduced to ₾15,000 each.
The Dean and students of the Batumi Art University were arrested on December 9, 2024, on charges of group violence.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the investigation established that on December 3, 2024, during a protest rally in Batumi, a group of demonstrators entered the university to hang a banner near the rector's office. Tea Tsaguria, a lecturer at the same university, did not allow them to do so, which led to Mamuka Jorbenadze verbally abusing her. Furthermore, according to the investigation's version, the Dean and students physically assaulted Tea Tsaguria's husband and his friend inside the university building.
A judge freed the dean and three students on bail on January 27, 2025, while Anri Kakabadze remained in pre-trial detention, having previously been released on bail for a similar offense.
