A 40-year-old Armenian has been jailed in Georgia after allegedly damaging a bust of Heydar Aliyev, the authoritarian ruler who governed Azerbaijan from 1993 until his death in 2003.
The incident took place on September 21 at Heydar Aliyev Park in Tbilisi’s historic Abanotubani district.
Georgian authorities initially disclosed only that a foreign national had been detained. His public defender later confirmed that he is an Armenian citizen who had entered Georgia as a tourist and had no significant ties to the country. He is exercising his right to remain silent and has been placed in pretrial detention.
The case is being investigated under Article 187 of Georgia’s Criminal Code for damage or destruction of property, an offense carrying up to five years in prison. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 12.
The bust stands in a park dedicated to Aliyev, whose rule was marked by what Freedom House has described as a Soviet-style vertical system based on patronage and the suppression of political dissent.
The Tbilisi park was established in 2004 and the Aliyev monument formally opened in 2007, as Georgia and Azerbaijan deepened political and economic ties, including cooperation on major regional energy projects. Georgia has also named part of Tbilisi’s riverfront after Aliyev, while another park and monument dedicated to him stands in Rustavi.
Meanwhile, Yerevan has remained publicly silent.
As of September 30, neither Armenia’s Foreign Ministry nor the Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi had publicly addressed the detention. It also remains unclear whether Armenian diplomats have contacted the detainee or provided consular assistance.
Georgian authorities have not disclosed a motive or publicly detailed the evidence against him.
