Context
The incidents documented in August 2025 indicate a continued intensification of criminal justice measures and institutional pressure against individuals and organizations associated with the protest movement. During the reporting period, criminal cases against detained protest participants before Tbilisi City Court entered their final stage. Courts convicted several individuals referred to by civil society actors as “prisoners of conscience” and imposed custodial sentences. In some cases, the courts reclassified the initial charges to less severe offences. Most defendants pleaded not guilty and maintained that the proceedings against them were politically motivated, while defence lawyers argued that the evidence presented by the prosecution lacked credibility.
During the same period, pressure on civil society organizations also intensified. By court order, the bank accounts of several Georgian non-governmental organizations were frozen. Civil society representatives assessed this measure as an attempt to restrict the activities of critical and human rights organizations.
Overall, the cases documented in August indicate that legal and institutional pressure linked to the protest movement continued at an intensive level, affecting both individual activists and civil society organizations.
Incidents
On 12 August 2025, Tbilisi City Court Judge Jvebe Nachkebia sentenced Anatoli Gigauri, who had been detained in connection with the pro-European protests, to two years’ imprisonment. The court reclassified the charge initially brought against Gigauri, which concerned an alleged attack on a police officer, to Article 353(1) of the Criminal Code, concerning resistance to a police officer committed with violence or threat of violence. Gigauri had been arrested in connection with an incident that took place on Rustaveli Avenue on 24 November 2024, allegedly involving a strike against police officer Vakhtang Gabunia. The defence argued that the incident had been preceded by violence by the same police officer, namely a blow to Gigauri’s face. According to Gigauri, the officer struck him first, before he moved his hand, and therefore he acted in necessary self-defence.
On 12 August 2025, Batumi City Court delivered its judgment in the case concerning the incident that took place at Batumi Arts University on 9 December 2024. The case concerned the attempt by protest participants to place a banner on the university building. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, university lecturer Tea Tsaguria prevented them from doing so, which was later followed by a physical confrontation involving her husband and another accompanying person. Several individuals were subsequently arrested on charges of group violence.
By the court’s decision, Batumi Arts University student Anri Kakabadze was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment. At the time the judgment was delivered, Kakabadze had already spent approximately seven months in pre-trial detention and was expected to remain in custody for a further two months to serve the sentence.
In the same case, Mamuka Jorbenadze, Dean of Batumi Arts University, was fined GEL 20,000; however, taking into account the period he had spent in pre-trial detention, the payable amount was reduced to GEL 18,000.
The court also imposed financial penalties on university students Guram Mikeladze, Davit Gvianidze and Giorgi Davitadze. Each was fined GEL 17,000; however, taking into account the period spent in pre-trial detention, the payable amount for each was reduced to GEL 15,000.
On 15 August 2025, Tbilisi City Court Judge Nino Galustashvili sentenced Davit Khomeriki, who had been detained in connection with the pro-European protests, to four years and six months’ imprisonment. The prosecution charged Khomeriki with preparation of an explosion under Articles 18 and 229 of the Criminal Code, an offence punishable by four to seven years’ imprisonment. Khomeriki pleaded not guilty and stated that the items and substances referred to in the case file did not belong to him.
On 22 August 2025, Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Arevadze sentenced Archil Museliants, who had been detained in connection with the pro-European protests, to four years’ imprisonment. Museliants was accused of damaging the cables of surveillance cameras installed near Parliament during the protests, allegedly causing damage amounting to GEL 534. He had been charged under Article 187(2) of the Criminal Code, which concerns damage to property by arson and carries a penalty of three to six years’ imprisonment.
On 27 August 2025, upon a motion by the Prosecutor’s Office, Tbilisi City Court ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of seven Georgian civil society organizations. The measure affected the accounts of the Civil Society Foundation, ISFED, IDFI, GDI, Democracy Defenders, Sapari and the Social Justice Center.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the freezing of the organizations’ accounts was linked to criminal investigations initiated on the basis of a complaint filed by Vato Shakarishvili’s organization. The Prosecutor’s Office alleged that the organizations had financed the purchase of various protective items, including gas masks, protective goggles, medical masks, face coverings and pepper spray, which, according to the authorities, were allegedly used by protest participants during confrontations with police.
