Tbilisi City Court found on August 12 eight men guilty of hooliganism and obstructing journalists' work into the case involving a fist-fight in Kavkasia TV three months ago and sentenced them to four years and six months in prison.

Eight men affiliated with hardline Orthodox Christian groups were found guilty of stirring fist-fight outside Kavkasia TV studio late on May 7, when inside the studio guests of the Tbilisi-based TV station's talk-show were in heated debates about topic related to series of developments at the time involving confrontation between radical Orthodox groups and thier critics. 

Union of Orthodox Christian Parents, an organization to which some of the convicts are affiliated, said that the eight men were being punished because of thier faith and accused Kavkasia TV and its employees of staging provocation against its members.

The Tbilisi City Court said in a statement on August 12, that acts committed by the eight men "are illegal and punishable." "It has nothing to do with religious or other kind of views," the court said.