Giorgi Okmelashvili, who was detained during a protest rally against the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, was found guilty by the Court of Appeals, which upheld his sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

The defense was requesting the annulment of the Tbilisi City Court’s verdict. The accused has been insisting for several months that he did not attack a police officer during the protest.

The prosecution claims the opposite, and during today’s hearing, they examined the video evidence that the investigation presented against Okmelashvili. According to the lawyer, after exhausting all domestic legal remedies, they will appeal to the Strasbourg Court.

Okmelashvili is charged under Article 353¹, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which involves attacking a police officer in the line of duty. The prosecution was also charging Okmelashvili under Article 260, Part 1 (possession of narcotic substances), but this charge was dropped during the January 15 court session, which the prosecutor agreed to. This offense was covered by the amnesty law passed by parliament.