Background

Protests which erupted towards the end of 2024, following the ruling Georgian Dream party’s announcement that it was suspending EU membership talks, continued throughout the year. These included daily demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi, and regular actions in other major cities.

Responding to the wave of protests, Georgian Dream pushed through a series of repressive laws. The party used its political influence to cement control and weaponize law enforcement, the judiciary and oversight bodies as tools of political retaliation. The purge extended across all state institutions, with widespread dismissals of civil servants and officials deemed sympathetic to the protests.

Freedom of peaceful assembly

Hundreds of people continued to protest daily, facing intimidation, heavy fines, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and unfair trials. Overwhelmingly peaceful protests were repeatedly met with unlawful force, which escalated tensions, leading to isolated incidents of violence, mostly in reaction to police aggression.

In an attempt to suppress the ongoing protests, legislative amendments introduced at the end of 2024 had imposed large fines for peaceful protest actions such as wearing a mask or blocking a road. These were followed on 17 October by a new, sweeping package of laws that further curtailed the right to peaceful assembly. Law enforcement officials were granted broad powers to imprison people for peaceful acts of protest including covering one’s face, setting up tents or blocking roads. These were punishable by up to 15 days’ detention – or 20 days for organizers – with repeat offences carrying up to two years in prison.

The authorities began systematically targeting activists, journalists and opposition supporters, conducting searches and confiscating protest materials. More than 100 arrests were carried out in the week following the adoption of the laws.¹

Torture and other ill-treatment

Masked officers routinely beat detainees during arrests and in detention. Unidentified men in plain clothes – some armed and apparently linked to the authorities – intimidated and assaulted protesters and journalists with police complicity, including near their homes and workplaces. Many of those detained were denied access to lawyers, relatives or urgent medical care while in custody.

Saba Skhvitaridze, arrested on 5 December 2024, was sentenced on 3 September to two years in prison for allegedly causing bodily harm to a police officer. He described how he was questioned without a lawyer and repeatedly tortured by masked officers. Despite medical evidence of injuries sustained in custody, no effective investigation had been carried out by the end of the year.

Unlawful use of force

Throughout the year, police continued to use unlawful force to disperse predominantly peaceful protesters, including tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon. Hundreds of protesters reported sustaining serious injuries, including fractures and concussions, and over 100 journalists were wounded.

Police violence escalated following the 4 October post-election protests, during which some participants attempted to enter the presidential compound. In response, special forces carried out militarized raids, using excessive force and arresting more than 60 protesters in their homes.

Despite widespread reports of violence and ill-treatment, by the end of the year not a single police officer or pro-government assailant had been held accountable.

In December, the authorities opened an investigation into allegations by the BBC that prohibited toxic chemicals had been deployed in water cannons against protesters. Rather than addressing the allegations, the inquiry sought to intimidate experts and witnesses who had contributed relevant evidence to the BBC’s report.²

Arbitrary detention and unfair trials

Arbitrary detention of protesters, journalists and opposition figures was commonplace. Some individuals were apprehended at home, at their workplace or in the street, solely for attending protests.

Courts routinely denied bail, without clear grounds or evidence that would justify remand.

Dozens of individuals, particularly those involved in anti-government protests, were subjected to unfair trials marked by procedural violations and prosecutorial bias.

Prominent journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli was detained twice on 11 January during a protest in the city of Batumi, initially merely for putting up a protest sticker. Upon release, she was re-arrested on criminal charges for slapping Batumi’s police chief. She was denied bail in a swift remand hearing, followed by an unfair trial. On 5 August, she was sentenced to two years in prison. Her health severely deteriorated in custody.³

In January, protesters Omar Okribelashvili and Saba Meparishvili were each sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment for damaging police barriers. The sentences came after months already served in detention where they had reportedly been subjected to ill-treatment. They were released on 14 November after a plea bargain which allowed for the remaining year to be served on parole.

Saba Jikia, 19, was sentenced in July to over four years in prison for allegedly kicking a police officer during a protest. The trial raised fair trial concerns, including the use of disputed video footage and the failure to apply the juvenile justice procedures normally extending to 19-year-olds in Georgia.

Nineteen protesters, among them actor Andro Chichinadze, were each sentenced to two or two-and-a-half years in prison in September following an unfair trial. They were convicted on politically motivated charges of participating in “group violence” during pro-European protests in late 2024.⁴

Between June and November, eight opposition politicians were arbitrarily detained and imprisoned after refusing to cooperate with a parliamentary commission whose legitimacy and impartiality were widely questioned. They remained in prison either pending trial or serving their sentences at year’s end.⁵

Freedom of association

Civil society groups, independent media outlets, opposition parties and politicians were targeted through repressive legislation, politically motivated prosecution and administrative procedures.

Under the 2024 Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, authorities subjected independent civil society groups to intrusive inspections and criminal investigations. Such groups receiving foreign funding and engaging in vaguely defined “political activities” were threatened with penalties.

In August, the authorities froze the bank accounts of seven NGOs, alleging that they had engaged in sabotage by providing medical supplies, protective gear, legal aid and other support to protesters in 2024.⁶ Several NGO leaders were repeatedly summoned for questioning.

In October, Georgian Dream filed a constitutional lawsuit seeking to ban three opposition parties – the United National Movement, Coalition for Change, and Lelo/Strong Georgia – accusing them of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, incite protests and undermine territorial integrity.

Gender-based violence

Women protesters were increasingly targeted with gendered abuse, including sexist insults, threats of sexual assault and degrading full strip searches. Such abuses continued to be reported despite a government pledge in June to end full-body searches.⁷ Misogynistic and sexist rhetoric from senior officials continued to fuel abuse against women protesters.⁸

Elene Khoshtaria, an opposition leader, was detained for protesting peacefully outside parliament on 28 March. She reported being violently restrained, stripped, forced to lie naked during her detention and denied medication needed for her condition.

Kristina Botkoveli, an activist, was forced to strip naked during an arbitrary police raid at her home on 1 February, triggering a panic attack requiring emergency care.

Right to a healthy environment

Local activists raised serious environmental concerns around a planned tourism project within the Balda Canyon Natural Monument, and the Krtsanisi-Eagle Hills urban development in Tbilisi. Lack of transparency and limited public consultations marred both projects.

1. “Georgia: Escalating repression and arbitrary arrests threaten right to protest”, 31 October ↩︎
2. “Georgia: Government’s alleged use of toxic chemicals against protestors calls for international investigation and complete embargo on all policing equipment”, 5 December ↩︎
3. “Georgia: Further Update: Georgian Journalist May Lose Eyesight in Jail: Mzia Amaghlobeli”, 30 July ↩︎
4. “Georgia: Further Information: Actor Andro Chichinadze jailed after unfair trial”, 15 September ↩︎
5. “Georgia: Crackdown on government critics deepens as another opposition politician is jailed”, 27 June ↩︎
6. “The EU and its member states should take urgent, coordinated measures to respond to Georgia’s crackdown on civil society and human rights organisations”, 10 September. ↩︎
7. “Georgia: Women protesters are targeted with escalating violence and gender-based reprisals”, 23 May ↩︎
8. “Georgia: Elections marred by severe reprisals and risk of further violence”, 3 October ↩︎