The ruling Georgian Dream party escalated its efforts to ban and sideline opposition politics parties in May. Three opposition leaders were sentenced to pre-trial detention and Parliament (boycotted by the opposition) passed a law simplifying the process and expanding the criteria for banning political parties. Zurab Japaridze, Irakli Okruashvili and Nika Gvaramia were arrested for declining to appear before a parliamentary committee tasked with investigating alleged crimes of the former United National Movement (UNM) government (2004-2012). The committee’s stated goal is to find grounds to ban UNM and all other opposition parties. Many opposition figures have refused the committee’s summons, arguing that the committee’s aims are unconstitutional and that because the 2024 parliamentary elections lacked credibility, the current Parliament is illegitimate. If convicted of failing to comply with the summons, all three face up to one year in prison and a three-year ban from holding public office.

Update: Zurab Japaridze and two other opposition politicians were sentenced to eight months in prison on 23 June for failing to comply with the parliamentary committee’s summons. Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze (no relation) of Lelo Party were also banned from holding public office for two years. Five other opposition politicians are still awaiting sentencing.

Source: OC Media (1), OC Media (2), OC Media (3), Parliament of Georgia, International IDEA, Civil.ge

Parliament passed several laws restricting civil society and media on 1 April, including a so-called “foreign agents” law (FARA) imposing sweeping registration requirements and sanctions on independent organisations and media outlets. The law tightens regulation on broadcasters and revokes a requirement to involve civil society in the legislative process. On 17 April it passed a law mandating prior permission from the Georgian Anti-Corruption Bureau to receive a grant from any foreign donor. The Georgian FARA law requires any organisation or individual deemed to be acting at the direction of a foreign power, including receiving a grant, to register with the government or face up to five years’ imprisonment. Broadcasters are now subject to stricter state ‘coverage standards’ and banned from foreign funding, which journalists say amounts to state control and censorship. The law on civil society participation was justified by what Georgian Dream lawmakers called the ‘anti-democratic’ actions of NGOs. 

Sources: OC Media (1), Caucasian Knot, OC Media (2) 

A leading media executive was sentenced to pre-trial detention on 12 January while she faces trial for slapping a police officer during an argument outside of a police station. Mzia Amaghlobeli, the founder of Georgian media outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, was arrested during a protest against the Georgian government’s repressive response to nationwide protests in December and January. Georgia’s media community, 14 embassies, the EU Human Rights Commissioner, and international politicians have called for Amaghlobeli to be released while she awaits trial, arguing her detention is without legal basis and intended to punish her for her media outlets’ investigations into human rights abuses and official corruption. The arrest comes as part of a wider crackdown on media and protest, including police violence, that has been criticized by international and domestic human rights monitors and press freedom organizations. As of 6 February, Amaghobeli had been on a hunger strike protesting her continued pre-trial detention for 25 days. 

Sources: Eurasianet (1), Eurasianet (2), OC Media, Interpress, BBC 

Georgia’s parliament inaugurated Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country’s new president on 29 December in a process met by public protests and condemned as illegitimate by the political opposition, the outgoing president Salome Zourabichivili, and much of Georgian civil society. The inauguration marks a new phase in Georgian politics, where the opposition and the government no longer recognize each other’s political or legal legitimacy. Kavelashvili was elected in a parliamentary session boycotted by opposition MPs. Critics hold that the October 2024 election was irreparably marred by irregularities and signs of tampering by the victorious Georgian Dream and call for a rerun. The final report from the OSCE election monitoring mission released on 27 December echoed these concerns, finding “reports of intimidation, coercion, inducement, and pressure on voters,” raising concerns about “the ability of some voters to freely form their opinions and cast their votes without fear of retribution.”

Sources: OC Media (1), British Broadcasting Corporation, OC Media (2), International IDEA, OSCE

A new Public Service Law in effect on 30 December was criticized by civil servants and civil society organizations for giving the government excess influence over the staffing of nominally independent state agencies. Under the new law, upper and middle management civil servants will be classified as administrative staff, not civil servants, and can be hired and fired by the government at will. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association criticized the law for increasing the risk of the politicization of the civil service, and dozens of civil servants reported being dismissed without cause or in retaliation for previous criticism of government policies on 31 December and in early January 2025. Public competition will also no longer be required for these posts and candidates will not have to meet previously legislated competency requirements. All civil servants will be evaluated biannually instead of annually and two consecutive unsatisfactory evaluations will result in dismissal.

Sources: Civil.ge (1), Publika, Civil.ge (2), OC Media