Georgia jails six political figures in one week in crackdown on opposition
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Georgian opposition figure Giorgi Vashadze jailed in widening crackdown
The sentence sees most opposition leaders behind bars as the ruling Georgian Dream squeezes critics and rivals. Giorgi Vashadze was found guilty of refusing to cooperate with a government commission investigating alleged abuse during its time in power under former President Mikheil Saakashvili. The jailing means that nearly all of the country’s major pro-European opposition figures have now been imprisoned. Georgia has been racked by political turmoil since Georgian Dream secured a further term in power in October’s parliamentary election. The opposition continues to dispute the results, claiming vote fraud and Russian interference.
A Georgian court has sentenced an opposition leader to seven months in prison, as a crackdown by the governing party on its rivals continues.
The Tbilisi court imposed the sentence on Giorgi Vashadze, a leader of the Strategy Builder party, on Tuesday for failing to cooperate with a commission investigating abuse of power by a former government.
The jailing means that nearly all of the country’s major pro-European opposition figures have now been imprisoned. The crackdown has increased accusations against the ruling Georgian Dream party that it is trampling on democracy amid ongoing protests in the wake of last year’s disputed elections.
Vashadze, deputy minister of justice from 2010 to 2012, was found guilty of refusing to cooperate with a government commission investigating alleged abuse during its time in power under former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Opposition figures say the commission is a ruse used by the government to stifle opponents.
Saakashvili is currently serving a 12-and-a-half-year sentence on charges that rights groups say are politically motivated.
Vashadze, whose party belongs to a coalition that came third in last year’s election, was also handed a two-year ban on holding public office.
Three other opposition figures have been jailed on the same charge.
“The Georgian Dream regime has imprisoned the whole of Georgia. We are fighting for the country’s liberation,” Vashadze said before the verdict, the AFP news agency reported.
Turmoil
Georgia has been racked by political turmoil since Georgian Dream secured a further term in power in October’s parliamentary election.
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The opposition continues to dispute the results, claiming vote fraud and Russian interference.
Mass protests broke out, gathering steam when the government announced in November it was suspending talks on joining the European Union in response to a European Parliament resolution rejecting the results of the elections, citing “significant irregularities”.
The protests have continued nightly for more than 200 days, although they have shrunk in size in recent months.
Prominent poet arrested
At a protest outside parliament in Tbilisi on Monday night, Georgia’s most celebrated poet, Zviad Ratiani, was arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer, news agencies reported.
He faces up to seven years in prison.
Ratiani has been a high-profile figure in the protest movement and was arrested at a protest last year, spending a week in prison despite having serious injuries from assaults in custody, AFP reported.
Georgian NGOs: Ruling party has firmly embraced authoritarianism
Georgian NGOs say the recent arrests of opposition leaders mark another step towards dictatorship. In a joint statement, they claim the ruling party has fully committed to an authoritarian path. There is a targeted crackdown on civil society and restrictions on media freedom. Anyone could become the next victim of repression. Citizens of Georgia, we will not give in! Georgia will not become Russia! A strong and united response to repression is essential.
Georgian NGOs say the recent arrests of opposition leaders mark another step towards dictatorship. In a joint statement, they claim the ruling party has fully committed to an authoritarian path.
What does the statement say?
“We draw attention to the arrests of opposition leaders in Georgia, which clearly demonstrate that the ruling regime has definitively chosen the path of authoritarianism. Today, more than 60 people in the country are prisoners of conscience. The courts, the prosecutor’s office, and other state institutions have been turned into political tools of the ruling party. There is a targeted crackdown on civil society and restrictions on media freedom.
Ivanishvili has chosen to maintain power through dictatorship, violating basic human rights every day. This is not a problem for one group of citizens — it is a threat to everyone. Anyone could become the next victim of repression. Citizens of Georgia, we will not give in! Georgia will not become Russia! A strong and united response to repression is essential.
The democratic world sees our struggle and stands in solidarity with us. Now more than ever, we must unite, act, and protest. We are not alone in this fight — and we must win it together!”
On 23 June 2025, a court aligned with the ruling Georgian Dream party sentenced three opposition leaders to prison: Mamuka Khazaradze (Lelo), Badri Japaridze (Strong Georgia), and Zurab Japaridze (Coalition for Change).
Nika Melia, Zurab Japaridze, Nika Gvaramia (Coalition for Change), and former defence minister Irakli Okruashvili are already behind bars for failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission set up to examine the actions of the previous government between 2003 and 2012.
Georgia jails six political figures in one week in crackdown on opposition
Six members of the opposition in Georgia have been jailed this week. They were accused of refusing to testify before a parliamentary commission. The government says it is trying to restore confidence in the country’s political system. The opposition says it wants to restore the country to its pre-1991 state. It has been in turmoil since the country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum in May. The European Commission says the vote was not free or fair and called for a new referendum. The EU says it will hold a new vote on the issue in January 2015, but the date has yet to be set, and the date of the next election has not been announced. For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255.
5 hours ago Share Save Rayhan Demytrie & Paul Kirby In Tbilisi & London Share Save
Reuters Nika Melia, who was jailed on Friday, was also accused of splashing the judge with water
Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia has become the latest opposition figure to be sent to jail this week in a crackdown described by observers as an unprecedented attack on the country’s democracy. The South Caucausus state has seen months of political turmoil since the government halted its path to join the EU in the wake of disputed elections. Six prominent politicians have been given jail terms, and another two are in pre-trial detention, so that most of the leaders of the pro-Western opposition are now behind bars. On Friday, Nika Melia, one of the leaders of Coalition for Change, was jailed for eight months by a court in Tbilisi and former opposition MP Givi Targamadze was given seven months.
The scale and speed of the crackdown has come as a shock, and Nika Melia accused the government of trying to break the courage of Georgians. All of the jailed politicians have been convicted of refusing to testify before a parliamentary commission and barred from holding public office for two years. In what it called “the most severe democratic collapse in Georgia’s post-Soviet history”, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said the governing Georgian Dream party, led by billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, had launched “a full-scale authoritarian offensive”. In a matter of days, jail terms have also been handed down to four other opposition leaders: Giorgi Vashadze and Zurab Japaridze, as well as Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze, two former bank executives. Another prominent opposition leader, Nika Gvaramia, is in pre-trial detention as well as a former defence minister. “The Soviet Union has returned to our present and wants our minds to cling to the past,” Nika Melia wrote on Facebook. Georgia regained its independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Norway said this week that the arrest of opposition leaders was an “unprecedented attack on Georgia’s democracy” and it called for an end to “repressive actions”.
NurPhoto via Getty Images Pro-European Union protesters have gathered in the centre of Tbilisi every night for 200 nights to challenge the government
After last October’s elections, the opposition accused Ivanishvili’s party of stealing the vote. Opposition parties then boycotted parliament and, when the European Parliament denounced the election as neither free nor fair, the ruling party halted Georgia’s bid to join the European Union. Georgians have since protested in central Tbilisi every night for more than 200 nights, demanding new elections and the release of all prisoners arrested during pro-EU rallies. The government then set up an investigative parliamentary commission into the “alleged crimes” of the previous government before Georgian Dream came to power in 2012, specifically the period covering Georgia’s war with Russia in 2008. Failing to comply with a “lawful request” by a parliamentary commission is a criminal offence under Georgia’s criminal code. Opposition politicians have refused to testify, partly because of their boycott of parliament, but also because they reject it as a politically motivated attack on government critics. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told parliament on Friday that the commission was doing very important work exposing a previous government that was “entirely built on crime”. “Everyone must understand once and for all that there is no place for criminals in Georgian politics.” Human rights groups say 500 people have been arrested during the recent street protests and that 300 of them were subjected to torture. As many as 60 people are being held as political prisoners, they say. Respected journalist Mzia Amaglobeli remains imprisoned, and independent TV stations face censorship and financial ruin.
Batumelebi Acclaimed journalist Mzia Amaglobeli was arrested in January and remains in jail
Georgia: Crackdown on government critics deepens as another opposition politician is jailed
Two members of the opposition in Georgia have been sentenced to seven months in prison. They were found guilty of violating the country’s constitution by refusing to recognize the right to freedom of speech. The other two members of parliament have been convicted of the same charge. The charges are related to the use of public funds to pay for political campaigns in the past. They are also found to have violated the law by failing to pay taxes on the proceeds of their political activities. The convictions were handed down by a court in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, after a petition was submitted by a group of people calling for their release from prison.
“Summoning opposition figures before a parliamentary commission and arresting and imprisoning them for refusing to recognize its legitimacy raises serious concerns over the misuse of legislative, policing and other powers to silence government critics in Georgia.”
“With its status disputed, the commission has been instrumentalized to target former public officials for their principled opposition. It has become a tool of political repression, not of parliamentary scrutiny, used to lock away political opponents ahead of local elections. The ruling party’s misuse of parliamentary structures is part of a broader crackdown on critics, which includes the arbitrary detention and persecution of activists and peaceful protesters and the suffocation of civil society through repressive legislation and unlawful demands.
The ruling party’s misuse of parliamentary structures is part of a broader crackdown on critics Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
“Authorities in Georgia must stop their relentless assault on dissent and targeting protesters and political activists for the peaceful exercise of their human rights, and release Givi Targamadze and the six other opposition members they have thrown behind bars in recent weeks. Authorities must halt practices that violate Georgia’s international human rights obligations. Authorities must uphold and ensure the human rights of everyone in the country.”
Background
On 27 June, Tbilisi City Court sentenced Giorgi (Givi) Targamadze to seven months in prison for “non-compliance” with a parliamentary commission led by the ruling Georgian Dream party. The commission purports to have been established to investigate alleged abuses by former government officials from the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party that ran the country from 2003 to 2012.
Giorgi Targamadze is the eighth opposition figure to be arrested, and the fifth to be sentenced, under these proceedings in recent weeks, after Giorgi Vashadze and Zurab Japaridze received a seven-month prison sentence each, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze were each sentenced to eight months in prison. All of them have also been banned from holding public office for two years. Three other opposition figures – ex-UNM chair Nika Melia, former Justice and Defence ministers Nika Gvaramia and Irakli Okruashvili – are also currently in detention and standing trial under the same charges.
Refusing to comply with a parliamentary commission can be punished by up to one year in prison or a fine under Georgian law. However, courts have so far imposed prison sentences only, in a string of cases which have targeted politicians who have challenged the legitimacy of the current parliament after disputed elections.
Armenian authorities arrest an archbishop and accuse him of plotting against the government
Armenia’s security services arrest one of the country’s top religious leaders on terrorism charges. Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is a major figure in the influential Apostolic Church. His lawyer described the charges as “fiction” and said police searched the cleric’s residence for six hours. It is the second arrest in a week of a prominent political opponent of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018. The relationship between the prime minister and the church has deteriorated in recent months, leading to accusations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment.. The Investigative Committee said it carried out over 90 searches and recovered evidence that included firearms and ammunition.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a major figure in the influential Apostolic Church, was arrested by Armenia’s Investigative Committee, which accused him of planning to carry out bombings and arson attacks to disrupt power supplies and stage accidents on major roads to paralyze traffic. His lawyer described the charges as “fiction.”
Galstanyan leads the Sacred Struggle opposition movement and has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was the focus of protests last year by tens of thousands of demonstrators after Armenia agreed to hand over control of several border villages to bitter rival Azerbaijan and to normalize relations between the neighbors.
Galstanyan leads the Tavush Diocese in northeastern Armenia and spearheaded a movement that opposed the handover of the villages in the country, which was once part of the Soviet Union. Although the territorial concession was the movement’s core issue, it has expanded to a wide array of complaints about Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018.
The decision to turn over the villages followed a lightning military campaign in September 2023, in which Azerbaijan’s military forced ethnic Armenian separatists in the Karabakh region to capitulate.
Pashinyan wrote on social media that the security services had foiled a plot by “the criminal oligarch clergy to destabilize Armenia and take power.”
Officials said 13 others also were detained amid raids by police on the homes of dozens of opposition activists. The Investigative Committee said it carried out over 90 searches and recovered evidence that included firearms and ammunition.
In addition to disputing the charges, Galstanyan’s lawyer, Sergei Harutyunyan, said police searched the cleric’s residence for six hours but found only smoke bombs that are commonly used at protests in Armenia.
“They spent time studying every room, every closet, every letter; they recorded everything,” Harutyunyan said.
Attempts to impeach Pashinyan were unsuccessful, but the relationship between him and the Apostolic Church has deteriorated.
On June 8, Pashinyan called for church leader Catholicos Karekin II to resign after accusing him of fathering a child despite a vow of celibacy. The church released a statement at the time accusing Pashinyan of undermining Armenia’s “spiritual unity” but did not address the claim about the child.
Pashinyan’s claim sparked fresh anger among the church’s followers, including Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who appeared in a video saying that the religious institution was under attack.
Karapetyan, 59, was detained June 18, days after the clip was posted online, and accused of calling for seizing power in the country. Pashinyan later said the billionaire’s energy company, Electricity Networks of Armenia, would be nationalized.