A court hearing is underway at Tbilisi City Court concerning those detained in connection with events that unfolded near the Presidential Palace on October 4. The prosecution is examining video evidence in the case.

As Doctor Giorgi Chakhunashvili stated before the proceedings began, he was performing his professional duties on October 4.

“I’m in the footage, I’m in the courtyard, I don’t deny that. I was performing my professional duties. I believe that by going in there, I saved a certain number of people. I’d do the same thing today. I didn’t think about it at the time; I just did it all. Yes, I’m waving my hands there, but you know what? Resuscitation movements and assistance do not mean only mouth-to-mouth breathing. What I was signalling was conducted purely through medical actions, nothing more. That’s all it meant.

Everything I did there — telling them ‘Come out, go out, don’t come in here’ — was done with good intent, to ensure that anyone present could be protected. What I observed was that they were spraying, but no fighting or combat was happening. The important thing was that they were spraying,” said Giorgi Chakhunashvili.

For reference, Gocha Katashvili, Sulkhan Abralava, Konstantine Kokaia, Davit Zhghenti, Kakhaberi Mzhavanazde, Aleksandre Gogoladze, Davit Sturua, Eva Shashiashvili, Zakro Albutashvili, Genadi Kelikhashvili, Dato Ghutskaia, Ramaz Jorbenadze, Jandri Tirkia, Giorgi Chakhunashvili and Ia Darakhvelidze face charges under Article 19-222, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which refers to an attempted seizure of a strategic facility of particular importance, committed by a group.

The detainees are accused of participating in group violence, which carries a potential sentence of up to six years’ imprisonment. Three of the accused, Eva Shashiashvili, Giorgi Chakhunashvili and Ia Darakhvelidze, have been released on bail as a preventive measure.