Interference with professional duties
On April 6, 2025, journalist Irina Makaridze, reporting for the newspaper “Qronika+” and the news agency “CNews“, was covering ongoing protest on Shota Rustaveli Avenue when she was fined 5,000 GEL by police for “illegally blocking the road.”
The journalist plans to appeal the fine.
Center for Media, Information and Social Research has documented dozens of similar cases.
On April 4, 2025, journalists from TV channels Formula, TV Pirveli, and Mtis Ambebi were denied entry to a meeting of The Chiatura Municipality Assembly.
The Media Advocacy Coalition called the incident yet another example of a systemic campaign against the media, aimed at suppressing critical voices and restricting the free exchange of information.
“Such incidents are part of the Georgian Dream party’s policy to silence and marginalize independent media. We are witnessing systemic pressure on critical media, which manifests in physical violence against journalists, threats, unlawful obstruction of their work, verbal abuse, legal persecution, and discriminatory treatment when accessing information. Despite this ongoing violence, no perpetrators have been held accountable,” the Coalition stated in its conclusion.
On May 29, 2025, a high-profile hearing in the case of Giorgi Bachiashvili was scheduled at Tbilisi City Court. The session, presided over by Judge Nana Shamatava, was held in a small courtroom. Despite the high public interest, part of the media was unable to attend the hearing. Some of the defendant’s relatives and family members were also not allowed to be present.
To recall, businessman Giorgi Bachiashvili previously headed the “Partnership Fund,” established by the “Georgian Dream” party and its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Criminal proceedings against him began in 2023. The Georgian justice system accuses him of misappropriating bitcoins valued at 500 million GEL. The investigation is widely known as the “Bitcoin Case.”
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and Transparency International Georgia responded to the court session:
“Organizing the hearing in such a small courtroom for a case of significant public interest violates the principle of public hearings, which is a core component of the right to a fair trial. This is particularly problematic given that the court had a reasonable opportunity to avoid it—at the time the session began, the court’s two largest rooms (Courtroom 1 and Courtroom 2) were available.”
On May 30, 2025, a meeting of the Public Broadcaster’s Board of Trustees was held. The board made amendments to the regulations document of the Public Broadcaster’s Board of Trustees.
According to the changes, attendance at public meetings of the Public Broadcaster’s Board of Trustees will now only be possible online. Anyone wishing to attend must send a request via email no later than two days before the meeting, following the publication of the meeting agenda. The amendments also define the procedures for attending and participating in the meeting process. These changes will come into effect on June 1, 2025.
Under the previous version of the Public Broadcaster’s Board of Trustees regulations, any interested person could attend the public meetings in person with prior notice.
On May 31, 2025, Khatia Gogoberidze, editor-in-chief of the news agency April, posted on the social media platform Facebook that she had been fined 5,000 GEL for “artificially blocking the road” while performing her professional duties.
According to the journalist, the Ministry of Internal Affairs contacted her on April 4 to inform her of the fine. After Gogoberidze explained to the police that she was engaged in journalistic activity during the march and even provided the materials she had prepared about the event, the police requested time to review the matter. Despite her explanations and the evidence submitted, the journalist was still issued a formal notice of the fine.
Khatia Gogoberidze plans to pursue legal action against the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On May 22, 2025, a court hearing for politician Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze was held at Tbilisi City Court. The case has drawn significant public attention, and with it, strong interest from the media. Nevertheless, correspondents who arrived to cover the hearing and were carrying photo or video cameras were not allowed inside the court building. According to the journalists, the rules for entering the building had been changed without any prior notice.
Security personnel at the Tbilisi City Court did not provide an explanation for why the journalists were denied entry. Instead, they referred media representatives to the court’s press office, which did not respond to phone calls.
The issue of media representatives being denied access to court hearings and other public institutions appears to be becoming a recurring trend.
According to the online outlet Publika, media representatives carrying photo and/or video cameras are still being denied entry to the Tbilisi City Court building.
Under the Law of Georgia on General Court and previous practice, journalists without a judge’s permission to record court sessions were still allowed to film freely in the hallways of the court building.
However, on May 22, 2025, when reporters arrived to cover the trial of politician Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, they found that this practice had changed and were denied entry. The Tbilisi City Court administration has not explained the reason for this change—either beforehand or afterward.
Mariami Kavshbaya, a journalist for the online media outlet “Publika,” was fined twice, totaling 10,000 lari, for “artificially blocking the road.” The administrative offense report against her was issued by the police on February 3, 2025. The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused her of “artificially blocking the road” while performing her professional duties on that day. Kavshbaya presented evidence to the court, including photos taken on that day and materials published on Publika’s Facebook page. In addition, she informed CMIS that even the video provided by the Ministry shows that she was working at the time of the fine. Despite this, the court upheld the fine and ordered her to pay 5,000 lari, which she did. The second fine was imposed for “blocking the road” during a protest on March 14. Kavshbaya appealed this fine, but the court has not yet scheduled a hearing.
On May 14, 2025, a “yellow level” security alert was declared at the Georgian Parliament building, resulting in restricted access for most media outlets. Only accredited television broadcasters were permitted to enter, and even they were limited to no more than two crews per outlet.
The restrictions were introduced on the same day when the Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili was scheduled to present his annual report and outline the strategic plan for the coming year.
This measure was implemented under the Speaker’s directive (Order No. N1/259/23) issued on September 4, 2023, titled “On the Approval of Security Rules at the Palace of the Parliament of Georgia.” According to the statement, the purpose of the “yellow level” alert was to “ensure a safe and secure working environment at the Parliament.”Since the issuance of this order, non-accredited media have faced repeated restrictions on their ability to operate within the Parliament.
On May 7, 2025, a judges’ conference was held in Tbilisi, where, apart from the Public Broadcaster’s “First Channel,” no media representatives were allowed access. According to TV Pirveli, journalist Mariam Gaprindashvili and her cameraman were even prevented from entering the courtyard.
Mariam Gaprindashvili stated that journalists were not given the opportunity to ask judges any questions, as most of the judges were accompanied by security and avoided the main entrance—entering the building instead through the basement or the kitchen area.
Judges, like Georgian Dream, do not allow independent media to attend public meetings.
