19-Year-Old Protester Sentenced to Four and a Half Years in Prison
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, July 11, 2025
Saba Jikia, a 19-year-old protester arrested in the early days of the ongoing anti-government demonstrations, has been sentenced to four years and six months in prison "for assaulting a police officer" during a December 2024 rally.
Judge Tamar Mchedlishvili delivered the verdict on July 10 in a courtroom with limited media access. The hearing came just weeks after new restrictions on courtroom recording were introduced.
Jikia was accused of kicking a riot police officer who had fallen during a clash between demonstrators and security forces on December 5, 2024. The charge carries a sentence of four to seven years under Georgian law. Defense lawyers argued that since Jikia was under 21 at the time, he qualified for juvenile sentencing provisions, which could allow for a reduced penalty. Those arguments were ultimately unsuccessful.
In his final remarks to the court, Jikia said, "I have to spend my youth in prison. But my arrest has had its advantages too: I found a new family. I met other very good boys [inmates]. I realized the value of freedom, and I'll have a great story to tell my grandchildren. I stand on the right side of history," according to RFE/RL's live blog.
Jikia was arrested a week after protests erupted in late November, following the Georgian Dream party's decision to suspend the country's European integration efforts. He turned 19 while in pretrial detention on June 26.
The prosecution's case relied on a video in which a young man, identified by authorities as Jikia, appears to kick a man in black riot gear who had fallen to the ground during a confrontation. The prosecution claimed this was evidence of assault.
Beka Gotiashvili, a riot police officer, testified that he was the officer involved. In an audio recording of the hearing published by Publika, Gotiashvili stated he was hit in the extremity but did not suffer any injuries.
The defense challenged the video evidence, arguing it did not clearly show whether Jikia made contact or whether the fallen man was identifiable as a police officer. They also said they were denied the opportunity to question an expert witness on the footage.
"It is not established that Saba Jikia was conscious of whether the [fallen individual] was a citizen, law enforcer, or a representative of any other organization," Jikia's lawyer, Guja Avsajanishvili, told Netgazeti in June. "We know that there were numerous people with similar clothing at the rally."
The defense further claimed that if the officer had any identifying insignia on his uniform, it would have been submitted as evidence by the prosecution, which did not occur.
