On July 29, 2025, Gori police officer Ioseb Gagnidze aggressively confronted journalist Giorgi Akhalkatsi, who was attempting to film ongoing investigative actions in Gori, and obstructed his work.
“Journalists, meet Gori police officer Ioseb Gagnidze, who told us: ‘If you don’t have your badge hanging around your neck, you are not journalists to me. I will interfere with your filming, call you liars, and if necessary, I won’t hesitate to use force,’” the journalist wrote on social media.
According to Giorgi Akhalkatsi, the officer became aggressive after noticing that the investigative actions were being conducted with procedural violations: the area was not cordoned off with protective tape, no lawyer was called, searches were conducted without the presence of outsiders, anyone could move freely in the area, and so on.
On March 15, 2025, Mountain Stories founder and editor Gela Mtivlishvili wrote on social media that he and a companion were attacked by police officers.
“We were returning to Tbilisi when a white pickup truck with the license plate BJ-573-BB started following us. Since it was creating a dangerous situation on the road, we pulled over. An armed employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and another person jumped out of the truck. The armed officer was shouting, asking why I hadn’t let him pass, cursing, and threatening me. When I tried to record the incident, he attacked me, struck me three times, and tried to take my phone. Eyewitnesses recorded the attack on video. The armed man demanded they delete the footage as well,” Mtivlishvili stated.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Gela Mtivlishvili has been targeted in attacks allegedly linked to Georgian Dream.
On April 17, 2025, TV channel Trialeti—journalist Shorena Bichikashvili and cameraman Soso Mchedlishvili—was attacked by a local resident in the village of Adzvi, located near the occupation line. The attacker verbally and physically assaulted them while they were performing their professional duties.
According to the journalist, the local resident verbally abused the crew members and threatened to destroy the camera. When the journalist attempted to record the incident on her phone, the individual tried to seize the phone from her and struck her. The crew called the police, and both were later summoned for questioning by the Special Investigative Service.
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics condemned the attack on the TV crew and called on the Special Investigative Service to carry out a prompt investigation.
