On June 15, 2009, in Tbilisi, following the decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights, the Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted eight individuals including L.TS. for their involvement in the crackdown on participants of a peaceful protest rally near Tbilisi Police Division.

Since 2010, the European Court of Human Rights has been considering the applications of the participants of the June 15, 2009 rally. In 2015, the Government of Georgia submitted declarations to the European Court of Human Rights in the mentioned cases and finally recognized the procedural violations of the rights guaranteed by the relevant articles of the European Convention on Human Rights and undertook to conduct an investigation, while the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe was entrusted with the supervision of the investigation and execution. In order to conduct an effective, comprehensive and objective investigation, the aforementioned criminal case was sent to the Department to Investigate Offenses Committed in the Course of Legal Proceedings of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.

As a result of a series of investigative actions conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office and the evidence obtained, it was established that on June 15, 2009, during a peaceful protest near the administrative building of the main division of Tbilisi, approximately 150 people participated, pre-mobilized employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs [MIA], including L.TS., surrounded the participants of the rally, inflicted physical injuries using rubber batons and other means, and prevented them from escaping.

Additionally, employees of the MIA administratively arrested peaceful protest participants, alleging violations of public order. The administrative offense protocols were signed by MIA employees who did not personally participate in the administrative arrests.

As a result of the investigation in the mentioned criminal case, as of today, criminal prosecution has been initiated against 8 persons under Article 333 §3 (b) (exceeding official powers by use of violence) and Article 341 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

The investigation of the case continues in order to identify and expose other persons involved in the crime.

We hereby inform the public that as part of the established supervision, the Prosecution Service is progressively updating the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the progress and outcomes of the investigation.