Students took over the office TSU (Tbilisi State University), demanding the release of Hasaya and Chikobawa. Students occupied the office of the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, demanding the release of Giorgi Khasay and Akaki Chikobava, who were detained during the eviction of the Khatiashvili family on Kekelidze Street in Tbilisi, as well as the suspension of planned evictions.
Activists of the May Student Movement, including both current and former students, are in the office of the chancellor, calling on the university administration to issue a statement in support of the detained TSU teacher, Akaki Chikobava.
Tbilisi police forcibly evicted the Khatiashvili family on Kekelidze Street
A few days ago, the police forcibly evicted the Khatiashvili family from their last home on Kekelidze Street. The police used harsh and unlawful force in response to public solidarity, which resulted in Georgiy and Akakiy damaging a police vehicle. The tool used by security forces to open the family's door became a weapon in the fight against this violation of the law.
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“Akaki and Georgiy were arrested for expressing solidarity. Yesterday, the court made an illegal decision, ignoring the petitions of professors from Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University, and left them in custody. We have seized the university office and demand that the teachers support us and strike at the university until Georgiy Khasaya and Akaki Chikobava are released from illegal detention and the planned evictions are stopped.” – say the protesters.
“The eviction of a family from its last home and the arrest of people who expressed solidarity are a direct consequence of economic policies that make us wait for a long time every day and try to rob us of our future” – said the students.
About protests against the eviction of the Balakhadze family in Tbilisi on Kekelidze Street
Giorgi Khasaya and Akaki (Kakko) Chikobava were arrested on January 23 on Kekelidze Street during a protest against the eviction. They are co-founders of the civil movement “Voice”. In addition, Akaki Chikobava teaches Georgian history at TSU, and Khasaya is a graduate student in anthropology at Ilia State University.
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The prosecutor's office charged them with deliberately group damaging a vehicle belonging to the National Bureau of Enforcement, Hasaya and Chikobawa. According to prosecutor Roin Khintibadze, they caused damage in the amount of 3,380 lari.
“The judge did not act in accordance with the principles of justice and human rights, but with this decision he applied a preventive measure as a punishment so that the opinion or fight for justice would be in greater danger, and citizens would not decide that future trials in the country would protest”, – said lawyer Guram Imnadze after judge David Kurtanidze sent the detainees to a pre-trial detention center.
If Georgy Khasaya and Akaki Chikobava are found guilty, they face 3 to 6 years in prison.
