On October 19, police detained journalist Vakho Sanaia, anchor of the main news broadcast for the Formula TV channel, near his home. By a decision of a Tbilisi City Court judge, the journalist was sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Vakho Sanaia of “insulting political officials” (directed at Shalva Papuashvili and Lado Bozhadze) over three posts published on social media.

Speaking to the media prior to his detention, Sanaia stated that the government’s goal is not to ban specific words, but to suppress critical opinion in the country and intimidate citizens:

“No matter how many detentions or fines there may be, I will continue to express my thoughts, whether verbally or in writing. It does not matter at all what they write or what they call the ruling… The main point here is that critical opinion must not be expressed, and that people should be frightened into not writing or speaking. Accordingly, my response to this will always be that I will write, of course, as many times as I want.”

This is already the third administrative case initiated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs against Vakho Sanaia in 2026 over critical posts published on social media. The authorities are actively using administrative mechanisms to punish independent journalists:

• Over statuses published on social media earlier this year, Sanaia had already been sentenced to 14 days of administrative detention and fined 6,000 GEL.
• In July 2025, the journalist was fined 4,000 GEL for “insulting” Georgian Dream MPs Tea Tsulukiani, Shalva Papuashvili, and Irakli Zarkua. On October 19 of the same year, he was detained on charges of blocking a road during a protest rally on Rustaveli Avenue and sentenced to 6 days of detention.

Representatives of local and international organizations responded critically to Vakho Sanaia’s imprisonment.