TBILISI -- Ten Georgian opposition activists have been sentenced to short jail terms or fined for their actions during an unsanctioned protest in Tbilisi, RFE/RL's Georgian and Russian services report.
The activists were detained on April 4 near the Supreme Court building in the Georgian capital, where they were protesting prison conditions. The demonstrators threw eggs at the building and attempted to block a major road.
Activist Gennady Kekeliya of the Resistance Movement was sentenced to 25 days in jail. Irakliy Tsikoliya, Grigory Kharebava, and David Kochiev were each given 20-day sentences.
Six other activists from nongovernmental organizations were fined the equivalent of $235 each.
Well-known Soviet-era dissident Nana Kakabadze, who leads the Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights NGO, told RFE/RL that she considered both the arrest of the "peaceful demonstrators" and the verdicts "a flagrant violation of basic human rights."
The Tbilisi court found the defendants guilty of breaking a Georgian law that prohibits the blocking of roads and holding protests 20 meters or less from any administrative building.
Read more in Russian here
The activists were detained on April 4 near the Supreme Court building in the Georgian capital, where they were protesting prison conditions. The demonstrators threw eggs at the building and attempted to block a major road.
Activist Gennady Kekeliya of the Resistance Movement was sentenced to 25 days in jail. Irakliy Tsikoliya, Grigory Kharebava, and David Kochiev were each given 20-day sentences.
Six other activists from nongovernmental organizations were fined the equivalent of $235 each.
Well-known Soviet-era dissident Nana Kakabadze, who leads the Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights NGO, told RFE/RL that she considered both the arrest of the "peaceful demonstrators" and the verdicts "a flagrant violation of basic human rights."
The Tbilisi court found the defendants guilty of breaking a Georgian law that prohibits the blocking of roads and holding protests 20 meters or less from any administrative building.
Read more in Russian here