The Georgian Court of Appeal considered a complaint by Azerbaijanis, arrested on 22 February during the protest action in the Demya Gorarkhi, Marneuli region, Trend reports quoting Alibala Asgarov, the head of Geyrat Popular Movement in Georgia.
He noted that the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence by the Marneuli court on Thursday.
The residents of the village blocked the Tbilisi-Yerevan highway in protest to nonsolution of their land problems on 22 February. According to Asgarov, the law-enforcement bodies used tear-gas and batons in regard to the participants of the action, as well as arrested 16 people. In 48 hours the Marneuli court released 9 people on bail till the next sitting. The rest 7 Azerbaijanis were sentenced to 2-month imprisonment. The defendants turned to the Court of Appeal, but it upheld the sentence by the Marneuli court.
Asgarov noted that after serving 2-month term their term might be prolonged. He also stressed that some of the arrested people were old and sick. The situation in the Demya Gorarkhi village is still tense, he added.