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:
- Verbal attack on journalists
- Kakha Kaladze, the candidate for mayor of Tbilisi from the Georgian Dream, called journalists “impudent”. The incident took place at the 64th polling station in Tbilisi. After voting, Kakha Kaladze was talking about the protection of freedom of speech and expression in the country. A “Formula” journalist asked him what this meant, to which he replied – “There is some politeness, there is ethics, I understand that you have neither one nor the other.”
- The president of the Georgian Dream, Mikheil Kavelashvili, called TV Pirveli journalist Ina Tsartsidze a “liar” and a representative of a “liar television.” “You, your bosses, are deceiving the youth, the society, that we are illegitimate,” Kavelashvili replied to the journalist, who was trying to get an answer from him whether US President Donald Trump had contacted him.
- Former Prime Minister of the Georgian Dream, Irakli Gharibashvili, called journalists from TV Pirveli and Formula “scoundrels” and “main fakers” at the 11th polling station in Tbilisi. His response followed questions from journalists about whether he himself was expecting to be arrested, since everyone around him is being detained.
- Cases of interference with work of journalists were reported
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.
