URGENT ACTION
ACTOR ANDRO CHICHINADZE JAILED AFTER UNFAIR TRIAL
On 3 September, the court in Georgia sentenced actor Andro Chichinadze and 18 protesters to two years in prison following an unfair trial on apparent politically motivated charges of participating in “group mass disturbance”. He and others have already spent more than eight months in prison following an unfair remand hearing and are now facing an additional prison term following unfair convictions. The Georgian authorities should quash the unfair conviction and release Andro Chichinadze and others pending fair retrials.

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Giorgi Gvarakhidze
Prosecutor General of Georgia  
24 Gorgasali Street, 0134 Tbilisi, Georgia  
Email: mla@pog.gov.ge  
Dear Prosecutor General,
I am concerned about the unfair, politically motivated convictions and misuse of the criminal justice system in the case of “group public disturbance” of Georgian actor Andro Chichinadze, and 18 other protesters, all of them in detention since their arrest in December 2024 in relation to the pro-European protests in Tbilisi and now sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to two and half years.
The prosecution initially charged Andro Chichinadze and 18 other protesters with “group violence” under Article 225 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, punishable by up to nine years’ imprisonment for organizers and up to six years for participants. Their cases were divided into two group proceedings: one involving 11 defendants (Andro Chichinadze, Onise Tskhadadze, Jano Archaia, Ruslan Sivakov, Luka Jabua, Guram Mirtskhulava, Valeri Tetrashvili, Giorgi Terishvili, Irakli Kerashvili, Revaz Kinadze, and Sergei Kukarchuk) and the other eight defendants (Zviad Tsetskhladze, Vepkhia Kasradze, Vasil Kadzelashvili, Giorgi Gorgadze, Irakli Miminoshvili, Tornike Goshadze, Insaf Aliev, and Nikoloz Javakhishvili). At the final hearing, the charges were abruptly reclassified as “group public disturbance” under Article 226, which is punishable by a fine, house arrest or imprisonment of up to three years.
While being charged with the group crime, nothing links them together as a group, there is no evidence of organized or coordinated violence or violation of public order at the time of their arrest The main evidence against Andro Chichinadze is video footage which appears to show him throwing a stick during a protest. The police have failed to demonstrate where the object landed and what harm, if any, it caused. The same video, and several others verified by Amnesty International, appear to show the police verbally abusing the protesters. 
Andro Chichinadze did not receive a fair remand hearing, nor did the others. Their subsequent trials have been marred by serious fair trial violations. Government officials publicly described Andro Chichinadze and others as criminals, in violation of their presumption of innocence. Credible allegations of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment raised by some co-defendants during the trial were not addressed or investigated. In the context of the ongoing, government crackdown on dissent in Georgia, the detention and trial of Andro Chichinadze and his ten co-defendants, appear intended to create a chilling effect on all protesters. 
I urge you to quash the unfair convictions and release Andro Chichinadze and the 18 others pending a fair retrial. I further demand an immediate end to the misuse of Georgia’s criminal justice system to suppress dissent.
Yours sincerely, 

Additional information
Actor Andro Chichinadze is a well-known public figure in Georgia, an outspoken government critic and participant in pro-European protests in November-December 2024. One of his co-defenders, comedian Onise Tskhadadze, is also a public figure. In addition to the human rights violations, including fair trial violations suffered by all defendants, Andro Chichinadze and Onise Tskhadadze appear to have been singled out for public attacks by government officials, seemingly because of their visibility as protest figures, to create a chilling effect.
The prosecution initially charged Andro Chichinadze and 18 other protesters with “group violence,” a grave offence punishable by up to nine years’ imprisonment, but at the last stage reclassified the charges to “public order disturbance,” which carries a fine or imprisonment of up to three years.
On 2 and 3 September, in two separate proceedings, a court in Tbilisi sentenced all 19 individuals to prison terms for alleged public order disturbance ranging from 2 to 2.5 years in prison. In case of Andro Chichinadze, the proceedings failed to prove his actions (throwing of objects) have endangered anyone or caused any harm or damage, similarly to the relevant actions of other defendants in the case. In all cases, the prosecution has failed to prove that the actions of which they stand accused were premeditated, coordinated, or connected to a larger plan – key elements of the legal definition of the group crime. Moreover, during the trial the prosecution’s witnesses, including police officers who claimed to have been the victims of “group violence”, were not able to identify Andro Chichinadze, or other defendants in their testimonies as the individuals who had committed any violent acts against them. 
The trials of Andro Chichinadze the others have been marred by numerous fair trial violations. including imposing a state-appointed counsels without his consent, denying defence sufficient time to prepare, and arbitrarily removing some of his co-defendants from the courtroom during the hearing. They are symbolic of Georgian government instrumentalizing criminal justice to punish protesters and silence dissent and reflect the systematic denial of justice to the hundreds of protestors who have been targeted and punished because of their participation in anti- government protests.
Protests have been widespread in Georgia for over a year, against the Transparency of Foreign Influence Bill in April and May 2024, the disputed election results in October same year, and the suspension of the EU accession process in November-December 2024. Police used unlawful force to disperse overwhelmingly peaceful protesters, including arbitrary arrests, beatings and other ill-treatment, resulting in injuries and the arbitrary detention of hundreds of protesters. Police also pursued protesters outside of demonstrations, conducting searches and arrests in their homes and offices. During the November-December protests alone, some 500 protesters were reportedly detained. Amnesty International has documented widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment of detained protesters, misuse of criminal justice to target political opposition and other dissent, and the use of gendered reprisals, including violence, against women protesters in Georgia and has recently launched a global campaign to demand accountability and justice for protesters in Georgia.

PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: Georgian, English 
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PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 15 March 2025
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PRONOUN: Andro Chichinadze, (He/Him)

PREVIOUS UA: Georgia: Actor protester jailed, denied justice: Andro Chichinadze - Amnesty International

Additional TARGETS

Mr George Saganelidze
Minister Plenipotentiary and Chargé d’Affaires
Embassy of Georgia
20 St George’s Square, SW1V 2HP
020 7348 1941
Fax 020 7603 6682
Email:   london.emb@mfa.gov.ge
www.uk.mfa.gov.ge
Salutation: Your Excellency

Public Defender Office: 
Levan Ioseliani 
6 Irakli Paghava st, Avlabari. Postal Code 0144 
Twitter: https://x.com/Ombudsman_Geo 
Email: info@ombudsman.ge