On March 29, 2023, police arrested 21-year-old Lazare Grigoriadis, accusing him of throwing a Molotov cocktail at police and destroying a state-owned car during the March 7–9 protests against the “Russian law.” The charges carried a prison sentence of 7 to 11 years.

Initially, while in police custody, Grigoriadis admitted guilt — a confession his lawyer, Lika Bitadze, said was obtained through threats to arrest his friends.

On March 31, the Tbilisi City Court ordered pretrial detention. That evening, a protest was held outside parliament in his support, with demonstrators holding signs reading: “Today I am Lazare too” and “I threw it” (referring to the Molotov cocktail). Activists argued that Grigoriadis had been targeted by police because of his appearance — dyed hair and tattoos — and because top government officials had publicly labeled protesters as “Satanists” and “sexually deviant.”

On April 1, another rally, organized by the opposition party European Georgia, took place outside the Government Administration building. German MEP Viola von Cramon, who was in Georgia at the time, attended the protest, prompting criticism from ruling Georgian Dream leaders.

Subsequently, Lazare’s father, Beka Grigoriadis, began holding solo protests (“one-man protests”) demanding his son’s release. Police repeatedly detained him for setting up a protest tent near parliament, and courts fined him several times. The Public Defender stated that erecting a tent was part of the right to freedom of expression.

A few months after the arrest, parliament fast-tracked amendments to the Criminal Code increasing penalties for property damage — raising the maximum sentence from 3 to 5 years.

Meanwhile, the prosecution revived an older case against Grigoriadis, which pro-government media used to discredit him. On September 25, 2023, Judge Nino Nachkebia of the Tbilisi City Court sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months in prison for allegedly stabbing his father, though his father had no complaint and did not want him punished. His lawyer argued that this verdict ensured Grigoriadis would remain imprisoned even if the Molotov cocktail case was delayed.

On February 25, 2024, the film “Lazare’s 12 Jurors,” produced by European Georgia and the NGO Liberty Institute, premiered at the club Khidi. The film simulated a jury trial to demonstrate the lack of solid evidence in the case. After the screening, a concert was held featuring 4D Monster Lobsters, Dagdagani, LOUDspeakers, Robi Kukhianidze, OUTSIDER, and Gamouvavali Mdgomareoba.

Before the verdict, the ruling party decided to reintroduce the “Russian law.” On April 8, 2024, while Grigoriadis’s hearing was underway, a large protest was held outside the Tbilisi City Court and parliament demanding both the withdrawal of the law and his release.

After a year of hearings, on April 12, 2024, Lazare Grigoriadis was sentenced to 9 years in prison for throwing the Molotov cocktail. Within minutes, his lawyers and mother formally petitioned President Salome Zurabishvili for a pardon.

A few hours later, during a live interview on the TV show Reaktsia on TV Pirveli, President Zurabishvili announced that she would pardon him. She signed the pardon decree a few days later, and Lazare Grigoriadis was released from prison.