Zviad Ratiani
SentencedArticle 353¹(1) – Assault on a police officer. Requalified at sentencing to: obstructing a police officer with violence or threat of violence.
Case Details
Zviad Ratiani, a poet and translator, was arrested on 23 June 2025 after allegedly slapping a police officer during a protest outside the Parliament. This was the second time Ratiani was detained during pro-European demonstrations.
Ratiani has previously been a victim of police violence. On the night of 29 November 2024, he was brutally beaten by riot police, sustaining a fracture of the fifth vertebra, a broken nasal bone and septum, and multiple hematomas. Later, on 12 December 2024, he was attacked again near his home by masked men described as titushkas. Despite these serious assaults, no one has been held accountable.
He was sentenced to two years on October 9, 2025. The judge requalified the charges.
Personal Background
Poet and translator. Previously brutally beaten by riot police on November 29, 2024, sustaining a fracture of the fifth vertebra, broken nasal bone and septum. Attacked again by masked men on December 12, 2024. No one held accountable for either attack.
⚕Health Issues
Fracture of the fifth vertebra, broken nasal bone and septum from prior police beating on November 29, 2024.