TI Georgia takes American lawyer’s case to European Court over alleged rights violations

Transparency International Georgia has escalated the case of Ted Jonas, an American lawyer and dual US-Georgian citizen, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, seeking justice for alleged rights violations by Georgian authorities, including police brutality, wrongful detention, and an unfair trial, the organization announced on Thursday. 

The case centers on the events of April 30 to May 1, 2024, when peaceful protests in Tbilisi were met with a violent police crackdown. Riot police units, including those led by Zviad Kharazishvili - who has been sanctioned by the United States and the United Kingdom - allegedly assaulted and detained dozens of protesters. Among them was Jonas, who claims he was physically assaulted by five to six officers during his arrest and was subsequently held in a stifling police minibus for two hours, where he and others were reportedly beaten.

Following his release, Jonas faced charges of petty hooliganism and disobedience to a lawful order of a police officer.

Despite contesting the charges, he was convicted by Tbilisi City Court Judge Lela Tsagareishvili, who based her ruling on police testimony that Jonas’s defense team argued was demonstrably false. The decision was later upheld by the Tbilisi Court of Appeals.

TI Georgia criticized the handling of the case, highlighting that an investigation by the Special Investigation Service into the alleged police violence has yielded no results after more than a year. The organization argued that this lack of accountability was part of a broader pattern of impunity for law enforcement abuses in Georgia.

Jonas is now seeking redress from the ECHR for alleged violations of his fundamental rights, including the right to a fair trial, freedom of assembly, and protection against inhuman or degrading treatment.