Paata Manjgaladze: I was not organizer of October 4 – can photo make someone organizer? this is absurd

Paata Manjgaladze, who was convicted in connection with the October 4 case, told the Court of Appeals that he is being prosecuted for calling on people to attend a peaceful demonstration and denied organizing the protest.

“Mr. Prosecutor, why am I being tried? Because I called on people to come to a peaceful rally? I was not an organizer in any way,” Manjgaladze said during the hearing.

He argued that the evidence presented against him consists of a photograph with Paata Burchuladze and three television statements made a year earlier.

“They are blaming me for other people’s statements. Can taking a photograph with someone make a person an organizer? This is absurd,” he said, adding that it was clear to him the case was politically motivated.

On May 7, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Paata Burchuladze, Murtaz Zodelava, Irakli Nadiradze, and Paata Manjgaladze to seven years in prison each in connection with the October 4 case. The defense has appealed the verdict.

Manjgaladze was charged under Part 1 of Article 225 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which concerns organizing group violence and carries a prison sentence of six to nine years.