TBILISI, November 15 – Two former Georgian security officials have been sentenced to five years in prison for physically attacking opposition politician Levan Khabeishvili during a political rally in April, 2024.
One had worked for Georgia’s State Security Service and the other for the Interior Ministry, according to Interpressnews.
Tbilisi City Court handed down the sentences on Friday. The two were convicted over violence against Khabeishvili, one of the leaders of the opposition United National Movement.
The case is part of several trials recently, bringing security personnel to account for violence against opposition and media during the unrest two years ago.
Prosecutors have detained five people over separate attacks on Khabeishvili, a protester and journalist Guram Rogava. Those arrested included current and former members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’s special forces and an employee of its security police department.
One person accused in the attack on Rogava also faces an additional charge of illegally obstructing a journalist’s professional work through violence. The charges carry prison terms of between five and eight years.
Rogava claimed in comments to opposition Formula TV that the trial of the two convicted of beating him was a sham, and that the real perpetrator is still free, but the TV company noted that his allegations have not been independently verified.
Two of the special forces officers were already in custody in connection with separate criminal cases when prosecutors brought the protest-related charges.
The latest ruling adds another a string of convictions for violence by security personnel during the anti-government protests in 2024.
