Poet Zviad Ratiani Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Slapping Police Officer in Face
Poet Zviad Ratiani was sentenced to two years in prison after Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Gelashvili, in a last-minute decision, reclassified the charge from assaulting a police officer to a less severe “resistance, threat or violence” against an official.
The case stems from a June 23 nighttime incident near the Georgian Parliament, where Ratiani slapped a police officer in the face. He admitted from the outset that he slapped the officer but pleaded not guilty.
“I don’t consider this slap something to be proud of, nor something shameful or criminal – but with the premise that we are living in absurdity,” Ratiani said in his final remarks before the verdict on October 9, according to RFE/RL’s Georgian Service’s live blog from the court.
Ratiani’s verdict was reclassified in the same way as that of Mzia Amaghlobeli, who was initially charged with assaulting a police officer but was later sentenced to two years in prison under the same article. Like Ratiani, journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli was sentenced for slapping a police officer, Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze.
Prosecutors said Ratiani slapped police officer Teimuraz Temurashvili “with motives of hatred” and deliberately chose Rustaveli Avenue for the act because cameras and police were present.
Video footage from the night of June 23 showed officers detaining Ratiani and escorting him into a police van. In another clip, when asked why he was arrested, an officer responded that Ratiani had “approached an officer and hit him without any reason.” A separate video aired by the pro-government channel Rustavi 2 showed Ratiani speaking with a man near a police car before slapping him and being detained by several officers.
Ratiani, a vocal critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was previously detained on November 29, 2024, and sent to eight days of administrative detention on charges of petty hooliganism and disobedience to police. He later said he was beaten and insulted while in custody.
“The act of slapping was given a political context by Mzia Amaghlobeli and Nino Datashvili,” Ratiani further said in his final remarks.
Nino Datashvili, a teacher currently in pretrial detention, was detained in June over an incident at Tbilisi City Court, where she was forcibly removed from the courtroom by bailiffs and flailed her arms as she was restrained. She faces four to seven years in prison on a similar charge of assaulting a law enforcement officer.
Mzia Amaghlobeli and Nino Datashvili, along with Zviad Ratiani and dozens of others who have been arrested and sentenced to prison amid ongoing anti-government protests and state repression, are widely considered to be political prisoners.
Also Read:
- Repression in Numbers
- 12/09/2025 – Russian Couple Sentenced to 8.5 Years in Jail on Drug Charges Linked to Georgian Protests
- 03/09/2025 – Nika Katsia Acquitted of Drug Charges in Third Not-Guilty Verdict Related to Ongoing Protests
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