CSOs Warn of Fabricated Drug Charges Against Protesters by Georgian Authorities

Civil society organizations (CSOs) accuse the Georgian Dream party of suppressing civic protests and persecuting activists by fabricating drug-related criminal charges. According to CSOs, the government’s aim is to discredit the civic movement by targeting high-profile demonstrators with serious legal charges.

During the November-December 2024 protests, while Georgian Dream faced backlash for violently dispersing peaceful demonstrators and arresting individuals—mostly on administrative charges—four activists, Giorgi Akhobadze, Nikoloz Katsia, Anton Chechin and Tedo Abramov, were charged with illegal possession and purchase of large quantities of narcotics. Under Article 260, Section 6, Subsection “a” of the Georgian Criminal Code, these charges carry a prison sentence of 8 to 20 years or even life imprisonment.

At a press briefing on February 10, Eka Gigauri, head of Transparency International (TI) Georgia, pointed to striking similarities in three of these cases—Akhobadze, Katsia and Chechin—and described them as a systematic abuse of prosecutorial power. The alleged pattern includes:

1. Investigations launched based on unverified “operative information” from undisclosed sources, so-called “confidential sources” the reliability of which can only be confirmed by police;
2. Searches conducted without court orders, “but on the “legal acknowledgment” of the search after the fact”;
3. Testimonies provided solely by law enforcement officers and affiliated witnesses;
4. Absence of neutral observers or video recordings during searches; in some cases, available witnesses were actively prevented from overseeing the process;
5. Judicial oversight over the search and seizure process – a formality and highly ineffective, with the court issuing a ruling on the legality of the search without a hearing, disregarding the principles of adversarial proceedings and equality of arms;
6. Pretrial detention applied without proper justification, undermining the defendants’ ability to mount a fair defense.

Sandro Baramidze, TI-Georgia’s Human Rights and Rule of Law Program Manager stressed at the briefing that the practice of ‘planting’ drugs on political activists remains a serious problem. He pointed to seven cases in which Georgia lost at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on similar charges. A notable example, as noted in the TI report, is Kobiashvili v. Georgia, in which the ECtHR ruled that the search was conducted on the basis of unverified intelligence, lacked a pre-trial court order, and failed to ensure a fair trial under Article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Nino Lomaria, founder of the civic platform Georgia’s European Orbit, publicly named individuals allegedly responsible for fabricating cases against activists. The list includes high-ranking officials from the Central Criminal Police Department, prosecutors, and judges who, according to Lomjaria, played direct roles in politically motivated prosecutions. The list of these officials is as follows: Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – Levan Tabidze, Alexi Koberidze, Revaz Ziraqashvili, Giorgi Khargelia, Giorgi Gureshize, Giorgi Lobzhanidze, Grigol Kachkachvili, Paata Mchedlishvili, Lasha Tavdade, Emil Kuprava, Mirza Japaridze, Lasha Kharkhelauri, Giorgi Rosopidze, Archil Natsvlishvili, Edgar Oganesiani, Giorgi Chikvaidze, Zurab Rusishvili; Prosecutors – Shmagi Gobejishvili, Nugzar Chitadze; Judges – Arsen Kalatozishvili, Spartak Pavliashvili, Lela Maridashvili, Irakli Khuskivadze, Tamar Mchedlishvili, Mzia Garshaulishvili, Nana Shamatava.

Akhobadze, Katsia and Chechin remain in detention and their cases are still pending. Human rights groups warn that these cases reflect a wider trend of state-led repression against Georgian civil society.

Also Read:

• Liveblog: Resistance 2025
• 28/01/2025 – Tbilisi City Court Remands Russian Citizen and Activist in Custody
• 23/01/2025 – CSOs Condemn Repressive Use of Fines Against Protesters in Georgia
• 23/12/2024 – CSOs Decry Abuses in Georgia’s Criminal Justice System, Call for Accountability
• 10/12/2024 – CSOs Joint Statement Condemning Arrests, Torture, and Repression in Georgia

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