The Georgian government froze seven leading civil society organizations’ (CSO) bank accounts on 27 August, as part of anti-corruption and tax inspections it has undertaken on nearly every high-profile CSO in the country since the country’s Foreign Agent Registration Act came into effect in June. The freezes are part of a case alleging the CSOs are engaged in ‘sabotage’ by allegedly purchasing protective materials for anti-government protesters and paying arrested protesters’ fines and legal fees. In statements, the affected CSOs denied the charges and said the protective materials in question were purchased for their own staff, as their mandate as human rights monitors required them to monitor protests. In March 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office froze the bank accounts of other CSOs that had financially supported protesters, but has not yet provided any evidence to support the current charges.

Sources: Eurasianet, OC Media, International IDEA

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.

Sources: 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.

Update: Amaghobeli was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on 6 August. The initial charge of assaulting a police officer, which carried a minimum sentence of four years imprisonment, was downgraded to resisting arrest by the presiding judge. International and domestic human rights and press freedom groups condemned the sentence as unwarranted and politically motivated.

Sources: Eurasianet (1), Eurasianet (2), OC Media, Interpress, BBC, Committee to Protect Journalists, Batumelebi