On 10 July 2026, Tbilisi City Court fined musician Maia Darsmelidze GEL 2,800 over a Facebook post concerning Nino Jgharkava, a person affiliated with Georgian Dream. The decision was delivered by Judge Manuchar Tsatsua of Tbilisi City Court.

Administrative offence proceedings against the musician were initiated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ newly created Division for Combating Hate Speech. Darsmelidze was one of the first publicly reported cases in which the new division drew up an administrative offence report. The musician herself wrote about this on social media.

Administrative proceedings against citizens over opinions expressed in the public space are being initiated on the basis of administrative offence reports drawn up by the newly created MIA Division for Combating Hate Speech. The new division has been operating within the MIA since 1 June. Its mandate is to monitor and proactively identify publicly disseminated statements that are degrading to human dignity, insulting, or contain hate speech, where such statements may contain elements of an administrative offence.

According to Radio Liberty, between 1 June and 2 July, after the division became operational, it identified 170 alleged administrative offences, of which 150 cases have already been submitted to court. Decisions have already been delivered in 33 of these 150 cases: 31 individuals were fined, while two individuals received verbal warnings. Most of those fined are citizens and activists.