Ten people convicted in Georgia over attempted storming of presidential palace on October 4, 2025
Georgia convicts presidential palace attackers
On May 7, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced 10 people arrested over the events of October 4, 2025, all of whom were found guilty of attempting a coup d’état.
According to the prosecution, during rallies in Tbilisi they called for a revolution and the overthrow of the constitutional order, then led supporters to storm the presidential palace, where they were met by special forces.
The defendants deny the charges, insisting they are political prisoners detained for civil protest.
Sentences include:
● Opera singer Paata Burchuladze — 7 years
● Former Prosecutor General Murtaz Zodelava — 7 years
● Opposition politicians Irakli Nadiradze and Paata Manjgaladze — 7 years each
● Former Deputy Chief of the General Staff Lasha Beridze — 7 years
● Former head of the Interior Ministry’s Special Tasks Department operational planning division Irakli Shaishmelashvili — 2 years in prison, sentenced in absentia as he has left the country.
● Activists Irakli Chkhvirkia, Tornike Mchedlishvili, Nika Gventsadze, and Guri Zhvania — 5 years each
● Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze and Irakli Nadiradze (each sentenced to 7 years) are charged under Article 19-222 (Part 2, Subparagraph “a”) of the Criminal Code, concerning an attempted seizure and blockade of strategic or specially important facilities committed by a group.
They are also charged under Article 225 (Part 1), which covers organizing and leading group violence.
In addition, they are charged under Article 317, which concerns calls for the violent change of Georgia’s constitutional order and the overthrow of state authority, carrying a penalty of up to 9 years in prison.
● Paata Manjgaladze (sentenced to 7 years) is charged under Article 225 (Part 1) for organizing group violence, which carries a sentence of 6 to 9 years.
● Former senior State Security Service official Irakli Shaishmelashvili (2 years, sentenced in absentia after leaving Georgia) is charged under Article 317 for public calls for the violent change of Georgia’s constitutional order or the overthrow of the government, punishable by up to 3 years.
● Colonel Lasha Beridze (sentenced to 7 years) is charged under Article 19-222 (Part 2, Subparagraph “a”) for an attempted seizure and blockade of strategic facilities committed by a group. He is also charged under Article 225 (Part 1) for organizing and leading group violence.
● Irakli Chkhvirkia, Nika Gventsadze and Tornike Mchedlishvili (each sentenced to 5 years) are charged under Article 19-222 (Part 2, Subparagraph “a”) for an attempted seizure and blockade of strategic or specially important facilities committed by a group. They are also charged under Article 225 (Part 1) for organizing and leading group violence, which carries a sentence of 6 to 9 years.
● Guri Zhvania (sentenced to 5 years) is charged under Article 225 (Part 2) for participation in group violence.
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