Tbilisi Court Sentences Ten Over October 4 Events Near Atoneli Palace
By Messenger Staff
Friday, May 8, 2026
Tbilisi City Court Judge Irakli Khuskivadze on Wednesday found ten defendants guilty in connection with the October 4 events near the Atoneli Palace, handing down sentences ranging from two to seven years.
Five of the defendants received seven years: opera singer and politician Paata Burchuladze, United National Movement members Murtaz Zodelava and Irakli Nadiradze, Strategy Agmashenebeli party leader Paata Manjgaladze, and Lasha Beridze. Four others, Irakli Chkhvirkia, Nika Gventsadze, Tornike Mchedlishvili, and Guri Zhvania, were sentenced to five years. Former senior State Security Service official Irakli Shaishmelashvili was sentenced in absentia to two years.
Burchuladze, Zodelava, Nadiradze, and Beridze were convicted of attempting to seize and block strategic facilities as part of a group and organizing and leading group violence, with the first three also found guilty of calling for the violent overthrow of state power.
Manjgaladze was convicted of organizing group violence. Chkhvirkia, Gventsadze, and Mchedlishvili were convicted of attempting to seize strategic facilities and participating in group violence, while Zhvania was convicted of participation in group violence alone.
Shaishmelashvili was convicted solely of publicly calling for the violent overthrow of state power, a charge carrying up to three years.
