The acquitted photographers into the so-called Photographers’ Case detained for covering the violent events of May 26, 2011, in Tbilisi will apply to Tbilisi City Court with a lawsuit to demand compensation from the government for moral damage and harm to reputation.

According to Lawyer Amiran Giguashvili, Photographers Irakli Gedenidze, Natia Gedenidze, Zurab Kurtsikidze and Giorgi Abdaladze were acquitted on November 22 of 2018 based on the verdict of Appeals Court, which annulled the decision made on June 22, 2011, by Tbilisi City Court.

According to Lawyer, his defendants were illegally accused of espionage and a dirty campaign was waged against them. “These people were called spies, traitors and Russian agents and were actually punished for the fulfillment of professional duties and informing the Georgian society and international community about the dispersal of May 26 protest in Tbilisi by force,” Giguashvili said.

On November 22, 2018, Tbilisi Court of Appeals delivered a verdict which said that four photographers convicted in 2011 under the United National Movement Party leadership for spying for Russia were innocent and the real reason of the arrest were the photos taken by them depicting the peaceful rally dispersal by the UNM authorities in central Tbilisi on 26 May 2011.