A Georgian supporter of European integration was sentenced to 15 days in jail.

The court sentenced activist Nika Narsia to 15 days in jail for failing to pay fines for blocking Rustaveli Avenue. Nika Narsia was not present at today's hearing.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in mid-May, activist Nikoloz (Nika) Narsia was fined for the 21st time for illegally blocking a road during a rally in support of European integration. He was ordered to pay a total of 105,000 lari (over $38,000).

The Tbilisi City Court sentenced civil activist Nika Narsia to 15 days of administrative arrest. Narsia wrote about this on his Facebook page*. "I was sentenced to 15 days in jail!" the activist wrote.

Nika Narsia himself was not present at today's hearing. He is outside the country. A public defender was summoned to the court. Narsia's supporters believe that this avoided the risk of a postponement of the trial – if neither Narsia nor his lawyer had appeared in court, they would have been forced to postpone the hearing. With the presence of a public defender, the hearing would have proceeded smoothly, reports the publication "Netgazeti."

According to Giorgi Tabatadze, who represented Narsia at the hearing, the summoned public defender filed a motion to recuse himself. However, Judge Tsagareishvili denied this motion, and both lawyers attended the hearing, the publication adds.

"I've been standing on Rustaveli Street all year." "My wife and I decided to take a week's vacation, and today is our second wedding anniversary, and this is how Bidzina Ivanishvili congratulated me on this day. No one is afraid of him. I will definitely come to Georgia. Even though with my political work I can live perfectly well in any European country, I am not going to do this (leave the country). I must fight together with my Georgian people and take my country back," Narsia said in an interview with the Pirveli TV channel after his prison sentence was handed down.

Protesters in Georgia have been demanding new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners since November 28, 2024.. Security forces carried out violent dispersals of the protests, using tear gas and water cannons, and detained protesters. Over a thousand people have been subjected to administrative prosecution during the protests. The Caucasian Knot has compiled materials about the parliamentary elections and the protests that followed on the page "Elections in Georgia-2024".