I joined Civil.ge as managing editor in February 2023, having served as a career diplomat for 17 years. It was a dramatic career shift, yet it felt like a natural continuation of my work, given this publication’s commitment to professional, unbiased reporting and its focus on Georgia’s international standing. I had plans: new products, expanded reach, and new ways to engage with readers.
When I joined the Foreign Service, I chose to work on Georgia’s integration with the EU and NATO, a decision born of conviction. I believed in contributing to Georgia joining the EU and NATO, a community of nations built on peace, prosperity, and shared democratic values. In November 2022, I was dismissed from my position as Deputy Director of the Security Policy and NATO Integration Department under the pretense of a “reorganization.” The real reason was my husband’s role as a vocal opposition leader.
Just as I did when I worked as a diplomat, I chose Civil.ge because I could remain true to my personal and professional values, knowing its long-standing commitment to our country’s freedom, democracy, and civic engagement. Sadly, this will be my last piece as editor of Civil.ge. I am stepping back to focus on my family, and because I believe my personal circumstances should not compromise the professional mission of this publication.
Last week, my husband, opposition leader Zurab Girchi Japaridze, was placed in two-month pre-trial detention for refusing to appear before the Georgian Dream parliamentary investigative commission. He now faces criminal charges, enabled by a recent legal amendment pushed through by the GD, which envisages up to one year of imprisonment. His “crime” is defying a parliamentary commission whose legitimacy he, like the broader opposition movement, contests and does not recognize. Zura is the first active opposition leader jailed in Georgia for this.
Needless to say, the court hearing felt very personal this time. The police presence was overwhelming. Inside the court, the corridors were lined with officers. I even had problems entering the tiny courtroom. The hearing unfolded as expected: the judge feigned attentiveness but was in lockstep with the prosecution’s demands. He refused to appoint a state lawyer when the defense walked out in protest. His decision seemed predetermined.
We have chosen to be honest with our children. Our eldest, 21, understands what’s happening. Our younger ones—11 and 7—are struggling to grasp why their father has been imprisoned for standing up for what’s right. How do you explain to children that their homeland is sliding backwards into authoritarianism?
My personal experience is but a fragment in a broader picture, closely intertwined with the tragedy unfolding before our eyes—the fast-paced dismantling of Georgia’s democracy and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations. When I started my diplomatic career, few in Europe saw Georgia as part of the continent. Then came the opening, brought about largely by the heroic resistance of Ukrainians after Russia’s brutal 2022 invasion.
I belong to a unique generation that remembers the Soviet Union well and also has helped build modern, independent Georgia. We went through war, poverty, and chaos— but we always moved Westward, always striving for a better, freer future.
That changed. When the EU opened its doors to Georgia following the full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine, the ruling Georgian Dream party revealed its true colors. Unable to straddle both East and West, GD chose power over progress, authoritarianism over democracy, and the past over the future. It turned away from EU membership, a goal that the vast majority of Georgians share and that, as is now clear, the GD and its founder never supported in good faith.
Liberal democracy—with its insistence on the rule of law, human rights, and free and fair elections—seems incompatible with the GD’s drive to hold onto power at all costs. Russia and other authoritarian states, however, are apparent natural allies for the ruling party. The Georgians are being robbed of their European future, which has finally become possible.
Within a month of my joining Civil.ge in February 2023, the government introduced the first draft of the Foreign Agents law—a clear attempt to crack down on civil society and independent media. That was the turning point, which has pushed civil society and media into survival mode. Protests erupted, followed by repression and police violence. Intimidation of the press and any dissent has intensified since, reminding us of Belarus and Russia’s practices. The propaganda from pro-Georgian Dream government TV channels sounds like that of their Russian counterparts, just translated into Georgian. This is being done to mislead and confuse; official statements are so devoid of facts and logic that they can no longer be recorded without extensive fact-checking and background information.
Georgia’s independent media and civil society are in a dire position. GD has erected a straitjacket of repressive laws, including the Foreign Agents Law, which it cynically renamed the “Law on Transparency,” to target the organizations that receive funding from Western states we still officially consider as allies. They also adopted the Foreign Agents Registration Act to make individuals pursuing undesirable (for them) activities criminally liable; and they changed the Law on Grants, mandating executive approval of each foreign grant. Coupled with cuts in the U.S. foreign aid, these measures severely constrict civic space.
This is an existential struggle.
For me, this struggle has become as personal as it could be. I know I am not alone, as I have received immense support from friends, colleagues, and ordinary people who understand the injustice of it all. And I am not alone because there are so many others—spouses, children, parents—fighting for loved ones unjustly imprisoned for their beliefs.
I have two immediate wishes at this point: first, that Georgia’s international partners continue to stand by the Georgian people and impose a heavier price on those who push the country into the authoritarian abyss, and the second, that Civil.ge continues with its work, supported by its loyal readers in these trying times.