TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association (GYLA) says the use of administrative detention recently has a political background.

GYLA thinks 23 cases of administrative detention between 21. and 24. August are suspicios. The persons who have been detained are mostly members of the opposition party Georgian Dream or somehow connected with it.

One of them is Dachi Tsaguria, human rights activist, who participated in demonstrations against prisoner torture.

The police tried to arrest him once, after which he told demonstrators: “We demonstrated peacefully yesterday and the day before yesterday, we are going to do same today too,” and went home.

( https://dfwatch.net/police-beat-and-arrested-demonstrators-43837 )

The police arrested him the next time and now he was sentenced to 10 days in prison.

Another arrested person was Aleksandre Tsagareli, a member of the group Laboratoria 1918, which has participated in organizing students protests since the abuse scandal broke one week ago.

After the concert named “System Must Broke” at Tbilisi State University, Tsagareli was on his way home when police took him. He says they did not explain the reason.

Tsagareli’s friends protested his arrest immediately. He was released the next day, but has to pay 400 lari for resisting the police. He denies that he resisted and claims that he was calling on demonstrators to act peacefully. People who attended the concert confirm this.

GYLA thinks that the court is unable to guarantee human rights and calls on the judiciary not to allow unreasonable, unlawful imprisonments, and to ensure that cases are heard in a neutral way.