The Daily Beat: 10 May

The regime-backed violent crackdown on civic activists, opposition representatives, and ordinary citizens became a part of Tbilisi’s everyday life. Thugs continue the orchestrated campaign of intimidation, using methods such as life-threatening phone calls, beatings, and posting posters at the entrance of their homes or offices, with pictures of activists, NGO leaders, and politicians, with writings on the posters calling these persons “agents” and “enemies of the state.” Victims of violence and intimidation claim that incidents are left without elementary police response and investigation.

On Friday evening, a video went viral on social media causing massive public outcry, showing a citizen being severely beaten in his car by a group of police in the presence of his wife. The incident which highlights another case of police brutality, happened in central Tbilisi. The incident occurred as the man encountered a police bus moving in the opposite direction on the one-way street. According to the eyewitnesses, when the man allegedly refused to yield to the bus, several officers got out and physically assaulted him, relentlessly punching and kicking him, and targeting his head.

In less than 24 hours, the leader of the Girchi-More Freedom party, Zurab Japaridze successfully avoided a second ambush by masked men near the party office, this time at noon. According to Japaridze, being legally armed, he fired a warning shot, causing masked men to flee in their car with the German license plates. Unlike his brother, a university professor and former diplomat, Gia Japaridze who was beaten while on his way home two days ago, politician Japaridze remains far more resilient to the non-stop attack attempts, having also escaped the first late-night ambush near his apartment.

British, German, and Dutch Embassies in Tbilisi urged the government to take immediate measures to prevent further intimidation, physical attacks, and unlawful detentions of civic activists, politicians, and journalists, further calling for proper and immediate investigation. According to the German Ambassador Peter Fischer, there have been cases of intimidation of the staff of German organizations operating in Georgia.

US Assistant Secretary, Jim O’Brien, the US Helsinki Commission, as well as other US Senators and the Chair of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee also condemned the targeted campaign of intimidation and violence against critics of foreign agents law, requesting investigations.   

The Nordic-Baltic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania- issued a joint statement, saying the reintroduced foreign agents bill “is incompatible with European norms and values. If adopted, the law could be used to silence media and civil society organizations that play a vital role in helping Georgia on its way to EU membership.” The statement urges the Georgian authorities to drop the bill.

29 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a strongly worded joint letter to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, urging the Georgian authorities to withdraw the foreign agents bill. “In the event, this harmful legislation is not withdrawn, we would join our colleagues in the Senate in encouraging fundamental changes in U.S. policy toward Georgia, including reconsideration of U.S. financial assistance, the expansion of visa bans to the United States, and financial sanctions on those responsible for undermining Georgia’s democratic development,” the Representatives warn.

White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan also expressed concern about democratic backsliding in Georgia. “Georgian Parliament faces a critical choice – whether to support the Georgian people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations or pass a Kremlin–style foreign agents’ law that runs counter to democratic values,” posted Sullivan on social platform X.  

At a daily press briefing, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller condemned reports from Georgia of harassment and physical attacks against civil society and opposition activists and journalists involved in protests against the foreign agents law and called for independent and timely investigations. He said the State Department is “deeply troubled” by the actions taken against those protesting the law.

Late Friday evening, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held a meeting with representatives of both pro-government and critical media to discuss the reintroduced Foreign Agents Bill and the current situation in Georgia. During the heated meeting, the Prime Minister said that the bill will be adopted in the third reading, despite the loud criticism from the West and non-stop rallies against it, and noted that the GD government is ready to make changes to the Foreign Agents’ law if it receives “legal comments from partners” within the presidential veto procedure.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze published an “open letter” on Facebook addressing “sincere” but “misled” youths and arguing that “around 10 thousand” protesters, mostly UNM supporters take part in rallies against the foreign agents bill “regularly”, while GD represents Georgians who have “higher IQ” and come from across the wide section of society.

While US Assistant Secretary of State Jim O’Brien is expected to visit Tbilisi as a last resort to persuade the GD authorities to withdraw the bill, Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has publicly refused to meet with the chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of the Baltic countries, Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, citing a busy schedule for next week. According to Papuashvili, the chairmen of foreign committees still plan to visit Georgia.

Mediachecker, a media analysis platform, reported, citing its sources, that Zurab Balanchivadze, Natia Orvelashvili, and Ekaterine Amirejibi, the morning and entertainment show hosts of the pro-government Imedi TV channel, had quit their jobs. There are also reports that other two other TV presenters have also left Imedi TV, although the information about that has yet to be confirmed.