Man Accused of Assaulting Rustavi 2 TV Head Released on Bail

Rati Gachechiladze, who was accused of assaulting Nika Gvaramia, director general of the Tbilisi-based private broadcaster Rustavi 2, was released from courtroom following a two-day detention after paying a GEL 5 000 bail.  

Rati Gachechiladze, son of the former opposition figure Levan Gachechiladze, who admitted the assault on Gvaramia, rushed out of the court building to avoid questions from journalists.

“The court considered that there was no urgent necessity to detain the person on the grounds that he might go into hiding, since Rati G. showed up at the investigation agency himself,” Tbilisi City Court said. 

“Thus, the applied penalty… will ensure the defendant’s proper conduct before the final decision is made on the case,” the statement reads.

It also said that a pretrial hearing into the case will be held on February 20.

Nika Gvaramia, who suffered closed head trauma, concussion and soft tissue injuries as a result of the incident, did not attend the hearing on Monday. He wrote on his Facebook page: “The only thing important for me is the adequate qualification of this action and a proportional penalty.”

The investigation was launched on January 8 under Part I of Article 126 in the Criminal Code of Georgia which deals with alleged cases of violence and is punishable by restriction of freedom up to two years or by prison sentence up to three years. Gvaramia challenged the use of Article 126 as “inadequate” and argued that the attack was committed in group, which would warrant harsher form of penalties under the criminal code. Gachechiladze’s defense lawyers do not agree with the opinion claiming that the incident was provoked and was committed by Gachechiladze only, but Gvaramia and his friends strongly deny it.