17 July 2025,   10:38
more
Interim Fact-Finding Commission scrutinized the dispersal of the rally of June 15, 2009, and the rally of veterans in 2011

The Interim Fact-Finding Commission on the Activities of the Regime, the Political Leaders of the Regime of 2003-2012 and the Activity of the Incumbent and Former Officials in the Political Unions since 2003 up to today heard the accounts of Mikheil Meskhi, Giorgi Chitarishvili, and Malkhaz Topuria.

Mikheil Meskhi provided information about the dispersal of the peaceful rally of June 15, 2009, at the Tbilisi Police Main Board. As he observed, the law enforcement officers assaulted him with the rubber clubs and baseball bats after his detention, and deprived him of his right to use a lawyer`s services in the Court.

According to him, after he was sentenced to a 30-day imprisonment, he was taken to the temporary detention area of the Police Main Board, where he suffered hell. During his temporary detention, he was visited by the First Deputy Chair of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, Eka Kherkheulidze, who extended an offer to him to apologise to Members of Parliament for the "discomfort" he caused at the Parliament during the rally on June 12. According to the reporter, in 2011, he relocated to Lithuania in search of refuge due to the dire circumstances prevailing in Georgia.

As noted, in September 2011, when he was travelling from Vilnius to Klaipėda to attend the Georgia-Russia Basketball game, he was arrested on the accusation of "thward ot the events and the explosion of the hall" and taken to the prosecution office.

After the game, he was released, told by the prosecutor that the game should not be attended by 2 Mishas - "he meant me and Saakashvili", - the reporter elucidated. In summer 2012, when he returned to Georgia, the criminal case was initiated against him on the fact of bribing the elector due to his engagement in the organization of the Georgian Dream rally in Kutaisi.

He recounted the dire conditions in the Kutaisi prison: "I was taken to the so-called `matches` where the floor was drenched in the blood of the beaten prisoners. I was arrested 20-22 times for administrative cases during Saakashvili`s regime". He also recalled the facts of blackmail of individuals with the video footage of their private lives by the National Movement government.

Giorgi Chitarishviili reported on the dispersal of the peaceful rally of June 15. As per his assessment, it was a "deliberately planned punitive operation", during which one of the participants was beaten by at least seven law enforcement officers with rubber clubs and various items. As he observed, the protesters who were assaulted during the rally were escorted through the so-called "shame corridors," where they were subjected to severe beatings. This entire process was meticulously documented.

The trials were short, with each session lasting 3 – 5 minutes. During these sessions, the arrested individuals were denied access to legal representation. According to the individual’s account, the doctor was admitted to the temporary detention facility after a period of two days. And subsequently, on the 29th day. He was offered the opportunity to take a shower prior to his release. As he observed, a cell of approximately 7-8 square metres, devoid of adequate air ventilation, accommodated up to twelve prisoners. The psychological distress he endured during his incarceration continues to cause him suffering.

Malkhaz Topuria provided information about the dispersal of the veterans` rally in 2011. According to him, the protesters made no social requests, as they were accused, but protested the insults against their diseased friends, specifically, the fact that the photos of the fallen soldiers were stored in the boxes during the restoration works in the base of the National Guard and never hung back. The newly appointed commander of the National Guard, Captain Tsakadze, threw the photos out of the box and started stepping on them.

As he observed, following the dispersal of the protesters engaged in a hunger strike, the then-US Ambassador, John Bass, expressed his concerns regarding the arrest of the veterans. This incident reportedly led to a "state of desperation" within the National Movement. Consequently, the veterans were released the following day, subject to a fine of 400 GEL.

According to the reporter, the individual who revealed the information about the photos of the deceased soldiers was abducted and subjected to severe beatings. Everyone, "passing near" the veterans, suffered the pressure of the regime. Topuria recounted the August War of 2008. He asserted that the Defence Ministry issued numerous culpable orders during the conflict. In general, the August War was not only a defeat but also an operation intended to transfer certain properties to the occupying forces.

As he observed, statement made by Mikheil Saakashvili and Vano Merabishvili regarding the concealed military equipment by the Georgian Forces in Borjomi forest prevented Tagliavini from levying one of the most severe accusations – ecocide - against Russia. This is because, according to military law, the utilisation of the green cover for the storage of military material was prohibited.

MORE HEADLINES