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Tbilisi City Court Remands Russian Citizen and Activist in Custody

On January 27, Tbilisi City Court Judge Davit Mgeliashvili has remanded Russian citizen Anton Chechin in custody until February 7. Chechin is charged under Article 260, Paragraph 6, Section A of the Georgian Criminal Code, which deals with large-scale drug possession and carries a sentence of eight years to life in prison. Chechin connects the persecution to his activism and participation in the pro-EU protests in Georgia.

In his letter from prison he wrote: “I came to Georgia, where I started supporting Ukrainian citizens and fighting against the occupation of Georgia. After my participation in rallies against ‘Russian laws’, an administrative case was opened, and a few months later police officers planted drugs on me.”

The defence argued that Cechin had been arrested with procedural violations. Itmalso raised concerns about the involvement of Shorena Tabatadze, a translator and supposedly neutral witness during the police search. The defendant’s lawyer questioned her impartiality as she’s an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and noted that the testimonies of the investigator in the case, Zurab Rusishvili, and the interpreter were almost identical including the wording and grammatical errors, which raised questions about their credibility.

Claiming that he was mistreated and that the drugs were planted on him by the police Chechin’s defense attorney requested his release without pre-trial detention, proposing bail as an alternative. However, the judge rejected the defense’s request and upheld the prosecutor’s motion to keep him in custody, citing a risk of absconding if released on bail.

Chechin was taking part in the pro-EU rallies in Tbilisi. Chechin was first detained on November 18, 2024. Following his detention, he was allegedly threatened and told to stop taking part in the protests.

On December 3, he was arrested again and a criminal case was opened against him for the acquisition and possession of drugs. Chechin’s wife has claimed that her husband does not use drugs and accused police officers of planting evidence.

‘He was met in front of his house without any identification signs, put in a car, abused and fabricated evidence by planting narcotic substances. When I met Anton, I heard one interesting phrase: ‘Everything that is happening to me now, I have already seen,’’ his lawyer is quoted by RFE -Russian service. According to Russian watchdogs, the practice of planting drugs on is widespread in Russia.

The 26-year-old Chechin, who moved to Georgia from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine, has been an outspoken critic of the Russian government. He actively participated in anti-Putin protests and supported prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which resulted in at least one arrest in May 2021 in Russia.

His is not the only Russian citizen arrested in connection with the recent Georgian protests. Two other Russian activists – Anastasia Zinovkina and Artem Gribul- who have also moved to Georgian in 2022, have also been arrested. Zinovkina had been since 2012 a supporter of Open Russia (a political organization founded by the exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky and listed in 2017 as undesirable by Russia’s Prosecutor General, with its website banned in Russia), taking part in rallies against Putin, actions in support of free internet, medics, and in support of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny.

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