Chokhatauri Council Chair Detained Over Alleged Group Violence Against Off-Duty Police
Police detained Davit Sharashidze, chair of the Chokhatauri Municipal Council (Sakrebulo) and a Georgian Dream member, and are searching for two others in hiding, with all three accused of group violence over an alleged attack on a police officer while he was off duty, the Interior Ministry reported on January 28.
According to the ministry, on January 27, Davit Sharashidze and the two others assaulted a police officer at a restaurant in Ozurgeti, a town in western Georgia, leaving him with injuries to his face and body. The officer was not performing his professional duties at the time, the ministry said. The three face a group violence charge, while the injured officer has been removed from his position and reassigned to the ministry’s personnel reserve pending investigation.
Davit Sharashidze became chair of the Chokhatauri Municipal Council from the ruling Georgian Dream party after the 2025 local elections. He previously served as mayor of Chokhatauri.
On January 30, media reported that the Ozurgeti Municipal Court set bail at GEL 30,000 (about USD 11,000) for Davit Sharashidze as a pretrial measure, rejecting the prosecutor’s request for detention.
The case follows other incidents involving public officials and law enforcement. The Prosecutor General’s Office previously reported that on January 19 in Tkibuli, a town in western Georgia, two employees of the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry, along with two others, assaulted two officers from the Interior Ministry’s Security Police Department and their companion at a restaurant. All four have also been charged with group violence.
Note: This article was updated January 30 at 13:15 to include the court’s decision setting pretrial bail for Davit Sharashidze.
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