Prepared by Messenger Staff
Two Minors Charged Over Alleged Plot to Attack Tbilisi School
Georgia's Prosecutor's Office has charged two minors accused of planning a violent attack on a school in Tbilisi. One of the defendants has been remanded in custody, while prosecutors are seeking a preventive measure for the second.
According to an investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the minors met through a social network in April and May 2026 and allegedly planned to enter a school, ransack its premises and injure people inside using weapons.
Prosecutors say the suspects selected a specific school, studied its layout and planned to place a fake explosive device outside the building to create an opportunity to enter unnoticed. They allegedly purchased items needed to carry out the plan, but law enforcement officers detected their actions before the attack could take place.
The minors have been charged under Article 18 and Article 225 of Georgia's Criminal Code, relating to the preparation and organization of group violence, including property damage and the use of weapons. The charges carry a potential prison sentence of six to nine years. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the investigation is ongoing.
Council of Europe Officials Warn Georgia Opposition Ban Could Undermine Local Democracy
Anders Knape and Urs Janett, co-rapporteurs of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, have expressed "deep alarm" over the Constitutional Court's examination of a ruling party request to ban five major opposition parties in Georgia.
The officials warned that banning the parties could violate the European Charter of Local Self-Government and its Additional Protocol, undermining political pluralism and weakening democratic checks on the concentration of power.
They also cautioned that the move could exclude thousands of citizens from participating in local democracy. Their concerns echo those previously raised by the Venice Commission regarding the potential consequences of banning opposition parties.
Knape and Janett said they would closely monitor the court proceedings and their implications for democracy and local self-government in Georgia.
