On January 23, 2024, during the eviction of a family from an apartment located on Kekelidze Street, Tbilisi, disproportionate force was used against the family supporters, activists and media representatives. In addition, 19 people were arrested, two of them - Akaki Chikobava and Giorgi Khasaia on criminal charges. The Prosecutor's Office charged the detained activists with damaging the vehicle of the National Bureau of Enforcement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, under Article 187, part 2, subparagraph "c" of the Criminal Code, which pertains to the group damage or destruction of an object and provides for a prison term from three to six years.

The first court session of Akaki Chikobava and Giorgi Khasaia was held on January 25, 2024. The Prosecutor's Office demanded the use of pre-trial detention against both activists. Judge Davit Kurtanidze granted the motion of the Prosecutor's Office and applied pre-trial detention against the activists. The judge did not consider the motion of the professors of Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University, that the removal of detained Akaki Chikobava and Giorgi Khasaia from the scientific-academic space and educational process would be harmful both to the Georgian educational and scientific space and young researchers.

According to the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia, the court is authorized to use pre-trial detention only in exceptional cases. When deciding the issue of measure of restraint and its specific application, the court must take into account the personality of the accused, his activities, age, health, family and property status, compensation for the property damage and other circumstances.

The Democracy Research Institute considers that the court did not take into account the personality, academic status, important professional activities of the detainees, or the appeals of the professors and their readiness to stand surety for the detainees, and used a disproportionate measure, while the Prosecutor's Office did not present adequate evidence to prove the appropriateness of the measure of restraint requested by it or the inappropriateness of the use of other, less strict measure of restraint.

The next trial has been scheduled for March 18, 2024, at 12:00.