Responding to the Georgian authorities’ use of repressive new legislation to crack down on protesters in Georgia, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:
“The Georgian authorities’ use of newly enacted, draconian legislation to suppress peaceful dissent marks a disturbing escalation in their crackdown on human rights. The laws, hurriedly passed in December 2024, effectively criminalize even symbolic acts of protest, such as placing stickers on public property. These measures are being deliberately wielded to target peaceful protestors and stifle dissenting voices, including journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists.”
The Georgian authorities’ use of newly enacted, draconian legislation to suppress peaceful dissent marks a disturbing escalation in their crackdown on human rights
Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
“The Georgian authorities must urgently release all those detained for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all allegations of unlawful and disproportionate use of force by police.”
Background
Between 11 and 12 January, more than 20 people — including activists, media workers, and members of the political opposition — were arrested in Tbilisi and Batumi during protests held in solidarity with previously detained pro-European demonstrators.
Some, including activists Tsiala Katamidze and Mate Tsentradze, were detained in Batumi under a newly enacted law that prohibits the placing of protest stickers on public buildings. Mzia Amaghlobeli, founder of the media companies Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was arrested twice on 12 January. Initially detained for the administrative “offence” of posting a protest sticker, she was later re-arrested as a criminal suspect, with the charges against her yet to be disclosed. Human rights defender Gia Jvarsheishvili, who previously reported being tortured during detention in December, was also re-arrested on 11 January and later hospitalized.
Human rights defenders reported delays in accessing detainees, amid allegations that several of them had been subjected to beatings, ill-treatment, and verbal abuse by police.
New legislation that came into effect on 30 December imposed further arbitrary restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, introducing hefty fines for putting up protest slogans or posters, and granting police the power to detain individuals “preventatively” on suspicion of planning to violate the rules governing public assembly or other laws, for up to 48 hours.