On July 14, Tbilisi Court of Appeals Judge Shalva Kakauridze dismissed the appeal of the employees of “Real Space” (Realuri Sivrce)—a program closed by the Public Broadcaster—regarding their dismissal from the television station.
Ketevan Kapanadze, Ioseb Katsitadze, Tamar Mshvenieradze, Omar Tsotsoria, and Tukha Kvinikadze were demanding the annulment of their dismissal order. The Court of Appeals left the decision of Tbilisi City Court Judge Liana Kazhashvili unchanged.
On April 11, 2025, the Public Broadcaster dismissed the host of “Real Space,” Nino Zautashvili, and the host of “Moambe,” Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani. From May 1, the program “Real Space” was closed, and the contracts of those team members who refused new offers were terminated.
Citizen Giorgi Gogia was fined GEL 3,000 on the grounds of allegedly insulting Bera Ivanishvili, the son of the honorary chair of Georgian Dream. The decision was delivered by Judge Tornike Kochkiani of Tbilisi City Court.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Giorgi Gogia, under Article 166 of the Code of Administrative Offences, of verbal abuse in a public space, classified as petty hooliganism. According to the Ministry, Gogia insulted Bera Ivanishvili, the son of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and honorary chair of Georgian Dream, on the social network Facebook. The MIA qualified as a possible administrative offence a post written on 14 June, in which Giorgi Gogia shared a statement by Bera Ivanishvili and wrote: “said the son of a b***h who had Irakli Gharibashvili running around schools to beat up children.”
Administrative proceedings against citizens over opinions expressed in the public space are being initiated on the basis of reports drawn up by the newly created MIA Division for Combating Hate Speech. The new division has been operating within the MIA since 1 June. Its mandate is to monitor and proactively identify publicly disseminated statements that are degrading to human dignity, insulting, or contain hate speech, where such statements may contain elements of an administrative offence.
According to Radio Liberty, between 1 June and 2 July, after the division became operational, it identified 170 alleged administrative offences, of which 150 cases have already been submitted to court. Decisions have already been delivered in 33 of these 150 cases: 31 individuals were fined, while two individuals received verbal warnings. Most of those fined are citizens and activists.
Civil activist Giorgi Melitauri was fined GEL 2,000 on the grounds of allegedly posting an insulting comment on Facebook in connection with his friend.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Giorgi Melitauri, under Article 166 of the Code of Administrative Offences, of verbal abuse in a public space, classified as petty hooliganism. The case concerns a comment Melitauri posted under one of Mtavari TV’s Facebook posts. The post concerned an attack on Melitauri’s friend, photographer Levan Zazadze. Melitauri’s comment was directed at the person who had attacked Zazadze and included profanity. The MIA’s Division for Combating Hate Speech treated the comment as an insult against his friend and drew up an administrative offence report.
At the court hearing, the MIA representative stated that it did not matter at whom the insult was directed. “They accused me of insulting [Levan Zazadze], but when they realized that the profanity was directed not at Levan Zazadze, but at his attacker, they said that it did not matter whether I insulted anyone or not; what mattered was that I had used obscene language in a public space,” Melitauri told Publika.
Administrative proceedings against citizens over opinions expressed in the public space are being initiated on the basis of administrative offence reports drawn up by the newly created MIA Division for Combating Hate Speech. The new division has been operating within the MIA since 1 June. Its mandate is to monitor and proactively identify publicly disseminated statements that are degrading to human dignity, insulting, or contain hate speech, where such statements may contain elements of an administrative offence.
According to Radio Liberty, between 1 June and 2 July, after the division became operational, it identified 170 alleged administrative offences, of which 150 cases have already been submitted to court. Decisions have already been delivered in 33 of these 150 cases: 31 individuals were fined, while two individuals received verbal warnings. Most of those fined are citizens and activists.
On 6 July 2026, Georgian citizen Besik Andghuladze, who is currently abroad, was fined GEL 4,000 on the grounds of allegedly insulting Eka Chichinadze, a Georgian Dream MP and member of Parliament. The decision was delivered by Judge Nino Enukidze of Tbilisi City Court. The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Andghuladze of committing an act under Article 173¹⁶(1) of the Code of Administrative Offences, which concerns the verbal insult and verbal abuse of a state-political official.
Andghuladze’s lawyer explained to the court that there was no evidence reliably establishing that the author of the comment was indeed Besik Andghuladze. Nevertheless, the judge did not accept this argument and found him administratively liable.
Administrative proceedings against citizens over opinions expressed in the public space are being initiated on the basis of administrative offence reports drawn up by the newly created MIA Division for Combating Hate Speech. The new division has been operating within the MIA since 1 June. Its mandate is to monitor and proactively identify publicly disseminated statements that are degrading to human dignity, insulting, or contain hate speech, where such statements may contain elements of an administrative offence.
According to Radio Liberty, between 1 June and 2 July, after the division became operational, it identified 170 alleged administrative offences, of which 150 cases have already been submitted to court. Decisions have already been delivered in 33 of these 150 cases: 31 individuals were fined, while two individuals received verbal warnings. Most of those fined are citizens and activists.
On 6 July 2026, writer and protest participant Beka Kurkhuli was fined GEL 3,000 on the grounds of allegedly publishing insulting posts on social media. The decision was delivered by Judge Nino Enukidze of Tbilisi City Court.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Beka Kurkhuli of verbal abuse in a public space, classified as petty hooliganism. According to the Ministry, Kurkhuli published several posts, comments, and videos on Facebook in which he “uses obscene words and phrases,” some of which were directed at Bidzina Ivanishvili, honorary chair of Georgian Dream, and Gia Gachechiladze, a presenter on Maestro.
Beka Kurkhuli told TV Pirveli that the case also concerned an opinion he had expressed on television. According to him, several weeks earlier, while speaking on TV Pirveli, he discussed the problems he faced at the border upon returning from Ukraine and criticized Bidzina Ivanishvili, which was treated as an insult.
Administrative proceedings against citizens over opinions expressed in the public space are being initiated on the basis of administrative offence reports drawn up by the newly created MIA Division for Combating Hate Speech. The new division has been operating within the MIA since 1 June. Its mandate is to monitor and proactively identify publicly disseminated statements that are degrading to human dignity, insulting, or contain hate speech, where such statements may contain elements of an administrative offence.
According to Radio Liberty, between 1 June and 2 July, after the division became operational, it identified 170 alleged administrative offences, of which 150 cases have already been submitted to court. Decisions have already been delivered in 33 of these 150 cases: 31 individuals were fined, while two individuals received verbal warnings. Most of those fined are citizens and activists.
On 7 July 2026, the personal bank account of civil activist Nino Kalandia, the mother of a child with a disability, was seized for the second time in connection with her participation in protest rallies. According to Kalandia, five additional fines issued against her have been submitted to the National Bureau of Enforcement.
Kalandia’s bank accounts were first seized on 29 May over her participation in protest rallies. At that time, the seizure was imposed both on her personal bank account and on the pension account of her 13-year-old child with a disability, which had been opened in her name.
On 10 July 2026, Tbilisi City Court fined musician Maia Darsmelidze GEL 2,800 over a Facebook post concerning Nino Jgharkava, a person affiliated with Georgian Dream. The decision was delivered by Judge Manuchar Tsatsua of Tbilisi City Court.
Administrative offence proceedings against the musician were initiated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ newly created Division for Combating Hate Speech. Darsmelidze was one of the first publicly reported cases in which the new division drew up an administrative offence report. The musician herself wrote about this on social media.
Administrative proceedings against citizens over opinions expressed in the public space are being initiated on the basis of administrative offence reports drawn up by the newly created MIA Division for Combating Hate Speech. The new division has been operating within the MIA since 1 June. Its mandate is to monitor and proactively identify publicly disseminated statements that are degrading to human dignity, insulting, or contain hate speech, where such statements may contain elements of an administrative offence.
According to Radio Liberty, between 1 June and 2 July, after the division became operational, it identified 170 alleged administrative offences, of which 150 cases have already been submitted to court. Decisions have already been delivered in 33 of these 150 cases: 31 individuals were fined, while two individuals received verbal warnings. Most of those fined are citizens and activists.
On 13 July 2026, it was reported that a plea agreement had been concluded with civil activist Isako Devidze in a case concerning contempt of court. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he was sentenced to one year of imprisonment. The agreement was approved by Judge Nino Nachkebia of Tbilisi City Court.
Isako Devidze was charged with contempt of court through insulting a judge, an offence under Article 366(2) of the Criminal Code. The charge relates to an incident that occurred during the court hearing in which his administrative detention case was being examined.
Isako Devidze was arrested on 20 December 2025 during a protest on Rustaveli Avenue on the grounds of allegedly insulting a police officer. On 22 December, Judge Zviad Tsekvava was hearing his case. During the court hearing, Devidze struck the judge’s work computer with his hand, causing the monitor to fall onto the desk. Devidze was removed from the courtroom and a recess was announced. After the hearing resumed, Judge Tsekvava imposed 30 days of administrative detention on the activist in the administrative case concerning the alleged insult of a police officer.
Devidze’s term of administrative detention was due to expire on 19 January. On 17 January, his family learned that a criminal investigation had been launched against him in connection with the incident that occurred during the court hearing. Devidze was remanded in pre-trial detention in the new case. Since his detention in the criminal case is counted from 17 January, the activist will remain in prison for another four months.
Tbilisi City Court Judge Tornike Kochkian has fined Vakho Sanaia, a journalist and TV host for the “Formula” television company, 6,000 GEL for opinions he expressed on a social network. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) accused the journalist of insulting state political officials. Social media posts published by Vakho Sanaia regarding the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, and Member of Parliament, Lado Bozhadze, were ruled to be administrative offenses.
Sanaia had already been fined 4,000 GEL once before for an opinion expressed on a social network. Therefore, the judge made the decision in accordance with the article designated for a repeat offense.
Administrative disputes against citizens for opinions expressed in public spaces are initiated based on protocols from the newly established “Department for the Fight Against Hate Speech” within the MIA. This new department has been operational within the Ministry of Internal Affairs since June 1. The department’s task is to monitor and proactively detect statements in the public sphere that damage human dignity, are insulting, or contain hate speech, provided they show signs of an administrative offense.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, between its launch and July 2, this department identified 170 alleged offenses, 150 of which have already been submitted to the court. Out of these 150 cases, decisions have already been made on 33—resulting in 31 individuals being fined and two receiving verbal warnings. The majority of those fined are citizens and activists. Vakho Sanaia is the first journalist to be fined based on a protocol from this department.
Within the scope of the criminal case launched against the “Formula” television company, a third employee of the channel, camera operator Misho Martashvili, was also summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia for questioning.
Following his questioning, the host of Shabatis Formula told Media Checker that by interviewing the camera operator, the Tbilisi Prosecutor’s Office had concluded its questioning of everyone who could potentially provide any kind of information to the investigation.
As a reminder, on June 16, 2026, the Investigative Division of the Tbilisi Prosecutor’s Office launched a criminal case against Formula TV under Article 373, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to false denunciation (false accusation). The investigation was initiated based on a statement filed by Goga Khaindrava, a film director and supporter of the “Georgian Dream” party. He accuses “Formula” of falsely implicating him in a potential crime. The case concerns reports broadcast on Shabatis Formula on December 20, 2025, and January 17, 2026. According to the source in these reports, Goga Khaindrava was bringing foreign citizens into Georgia in exchange for money. Reportedly, the Prosecutor’s Office is disputing the false denunciation against Formula’s source.
Within the scope of the same case, the author and host of the program, Davit Kashiashvili, and the journalist who authored the report, Natuka Lomidze, have already been questioned at the Prosecutor’s Office.
Due to the same reports, Goga Khaindrava also has an ongoing civil dispute against “Formula.” He is suing the television company for defamation and is demanding 10,000 GEL in compensation for moral damages.
