Georgia - March 2023

Following significant domestic street protests and Western criticism, the ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew its support for two ‘foreign agent’ bills on 9 March. The Georgian parliament had adopted one of the bills on a first reading on 7 March. Despite the withdrawal, Georgian Dream officials continued to defend the bills, promised to reintroduce them in some form in the future, and widely attacked the protesters as “liberal fascists”, “satanists”, “anarchists”, and tools of foreign influence in media. Many such attacks have focused on Lazare Grigoriadis, a 22-year old protester arrested on 29 March, who faces up to 11 years in prison on charges of arson for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at police. Officials have speculated on his sexuality and private life in the media, and Grigoriadis’ lawyers say police elicited a forced confession, denied him access to legal counsel, and forcibly shaved his head.

Sources: EurasiaNet(1), EurasiaNet (2), EurasiaNet (3), OC Media