Interference with professional duties
At the October 4, 2025 rally, “Netgazeti” lost its drone. According to the information released by the publication, they lost their drone on Rustaveli Avenue. “Netgazeti’s” drones, as well as those of other media outlets, were allegedly specially shot down on Rustaveli Avenue, where we were trying to film the demonstration,” the publication said in the information released.
On the same day, “Project 64” and “Mauwkebeli” lost their drones too.
Project 64 lost its drone camera during the October 4, 2025 rally. Project 64 founder and journalist Giorgi Gogua wrote on social media that the camera was filming near the parliament building when it suddenly started flying erratically and lost control.
“I was only controlling the direction of the camera, but I couldn’t control the trajectory of the drone. The last shot before the signal was lost was somewhere from Rustaveli to Mtatsminda. The flight history on the map shows that the drone flew towards the airport.”
On the same day, the media outlets Netgazeti and Mauwyebeli lost control of their drones.
While covering the October 4, 2025 rally, according to information released by the Public Broadcaster, a protester allegedly threw an “unknown liquid” at the news program’s “Moambe” crew, resulting in injuries to journalist Shalva Sumbadze and cameraman Nika Tsirekidze.
On October 4, 2025, on the day of local elections (which were boycotted by a large part of the pro-Western opposition), the chairman of the polling station commission at Akhaltsikhe polling station No. 6 restricted journalist Nuka Stepnadze from filming at the polling station.
He told the journalist that he could only film for 10 minutes. According to the publication, the chairman of the commission only allowed the journalist to continue working after the district commission contacted him and explained the rules.
On October 4, 2025, a large-scale protest rally in Tbilisi witnessed numerous cases of verbal and physical attacks on media representatives, obstruction of their work, and damage to equipment. For the first time during this rally, some online media outlets were unable to operate their Drone cameras, likely due to an artificial disruption.
Publicly reported incidents:
According to information disseminated by “Netgazeti”, they lost their drone on Rustaveli Avenue. “Netgazeti’s” drones, as well as those of other media outlets, were allegedly specially shot down on Rustaveli Avenue, where we were trying to film a demonstration,” the publication said in the information.
According to information, the publication “Mautskebeli” also lost its drone. During filming, the drone suddenly malfunctioned, like other media outlets,” a journalist from “Maudereli” told MediaChecker.
On October 4, 2025, during the local government elections (which the opposition and a large part of society consider illegitimate), numerous cases of obstruction of work, threats, and verbal and physical abuse against media representatives were recorded.
Publicly reported incidents:
4. At Akhaltsikhe polling station No. 6, the chairman of the precinct commission restricted journalist Nuka Stepnadze of the publication “Samkhretis Karibche” from filming at the polling station. He told the journalist that he could only film for 10 minutes. According to the publication, the chairman of the commission only allowed the journalist to continue working after the district commission contacted him and explained the rules.
5. In Batumi, at one of the polling stations, a journalist from “TV Pirveli” journalist, Nato Gogelia, was verbally confronted by agitators from the “Georgian Dream”. They first tried to prevent him from filming by covering his camera with their hands, and then cursed at the journalist. Their irritation followed the journalist’s attempt to find out why they were standing at the polling station with lists and why they were registering voters.
According to the Charter of Journalistic Ethics, documentary photographer, Mariam Giunashvili, suffered burns after allegedly being pepper-sprayed. “They sprayed me [with pepper spray] from three different directions, from the front right in the face and from the sides all over my body. I got particularly bad burns on my hands and arms,” Giunashvili told Mediachecker.
On October 1, 2025, Publika’s journalist, Mindia Gabadze, was threatened with police intervention and faced an attempted physical assault by a Court bailiffl. Gabadze was covering the court hearing of activist Gela Khasaia.
According to Gabadze, before the hearing began, the head of the court bailiff’ service, Davit Matiashvili, threatened him that if he tried to record, he would “call the police and take him into the next room.”
Gabadze says he did not film anything inside the court building. After the hearing ended, when the Court bailiff began forcibly removing attendees and journalists, Gabadze was leaving the building calmly and peacefully. Nevertheless, according to him, Davit Matiashvili made three attempts (twice inside the building and once in the yard) to physically assault him — by kicking and grabbing him by the hand.
“There were two other incidents when another, inexperienced bailiff grabbed me by the neck. Each time, I was frozen in shock, and my editor was pulling me away from the Court bailiffs. Activists were also helping me,” the journalist wrote.
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics emphasized that recent amendments to the Organic Law on Common Courts of Georgia have severely restricted the media’s ability to cover court proceedings. According to the organization, the media lack even the most basic working conditions in the courts, and the environment has become extremely hostile and dangerous.
“Every time journalists perform their professional duties in court, their health and lives are at serious risk. While working in the courts, journalists also risk losing their freedom — even when they are merely trying to protect themselves or a colleague from violence. Such treatment of journalists bears all the signs of targeted persecution,” the organization’s statement reads.
The Media Advocacy Coalition added:
“The ‘Georgian Dream’ judiciary has become a place of injustice and violence. Violence and brutal incidents against journalists have become a regular part of their professional experience.”
On October 1, 2025, a bailiff of the Tbilisi City Court confiscated the phone of Natali Jakhutashvili, a journalist for the TV company “Formula”, and returned it broken.
The incident occurred when the trial of opposition activist Gela Khasaia in the City Court ended. The imposition of imprisonment as a preventive measure for Gela Khasaia was followed by a confrontation in court. Court bailiffs physically assaulted the detainee’s friends. The journalist was trying to cover these processes.
According to her, after the bailiff confiscated her phone, she tried to return it for 15 minutes. In the end, the bailiff handed over the broken phone.
This is not the first time that media representatives have been targeted by violence in court. With the amendments to the Law on Common Courts, starting from June 30, it is forbidden to take photos/videos and make audio recordings in courtrooms, corridors or courtyards. After the new rule came into effect, media outlets applied to the Council of Justice – a legally established body – for the right to record, but so far none of them have received a response.
Before the adoption of the repressive legislation, independent media representatives were illegally hindered in the performance of their professional duties in court buildings. Since the amendment, the bailiff’s office has been using disproportionate and unjustified force, including against the media, to enforce the repressive legislation.
Individuals associated with the ruling party, “Georgian Dream,” demanded that Radio Marneuli delete information about one of the party’s candidates, threatening legal action in court if the demand was not met.
The incident occurred on September 9, 2025. According to Radio Marneuli, they had shared a post on social media from an activist regarding alleged crimes of Gamlet Ismailov, the “Georgian Dream” majoritarian candidate in Dmanisi. The activist wrote that the party candidate had married his own underage student years ago in the Karabulakhi community of Dmanisi, where he also served as the school director. The post further mentioned that Ismailov allegedly concealed information about the forced marriage of another underage student at the school, who later became a victim of femicide.
After sharing this post, the editorial office received multiple calls from the candidate’s representatives, first demanding the post be deleted, and later threatening legal action.
Following this incident, the current mayor of Dmanisi, Koba Muradashvili, also associated with “Georgian Dream,” threatened Radio Marneuli with a lawsuit after a journalist called him for a comment on the information.
