One year has passed since Georgia’s October 26, 2024, parliamentary elections, which handed the ruling Georgian Dream party a much-disputed victory. On Sunday evening, a larger-than-usual crowd marched in protest from Tbilisi’s Republic Square to the Parliament building, where opposition leaders and Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, addressed those who continue to reject the government’s legitimacy.
After one year, demonstrators continue to demand the government’s resignation through a fair rerun of the vote, and the release of those they consider politically imprisoned. Over the past year, Georgian Dream has struggled to gain the domestic and international legitimacy it sought, with Parliament remaining one-party and the presidency still held by a GD-elected figure picked by that parliament. Meanwhile, the opposition remains unable to present a clear program and coherent alternative. The political deadlock remains, while repression, arrests, and persistent street protests continue.
Past Week:
Protest arrests skyrocket: We estimate that more than 100 people have been arrested over the past week for blocking the road and wearing masks during daily rallies on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue. Almost all protest-related arrests have resulted in the maximum 14 days of administrative detention. Everyone has been sent behind bars, including critical journalists and foreigners. The detentions are carried out under new rules that came into force ten days ago, replacing fines with immediate administrative detention for such offenses, while repeated violations now constitute a criminal offense. This means that those who leave prison and are arrested again for “artificially” blocking the road when the authorities deem the number of protesters is too small to block traffic will face up to one year in prison. That’s what we are bracing for in the coming days, as Georgian Dream seems determined to end the Rustaveli rallies.
One More Arrested Under Criminal Charges: During the tense protest rally on October 22, where police snatched dozens of protesters from the sidewalks on Rustaveli Avenue, Tamar Lortkipanidze, a woman who briefly climbed onto the roof of a police car, was among those detained. While authorities initially described her actions as “hooliganism,” she was soon charged with the harsher criminal offenses of “attacking a police officer’s vehicle” and “violence,” placed in pretrial detention, and faces up to seven years in prison.
Seven Charged for Obstructing Pro-GD Press: Seven people have been charged with “unlawful interference with a journalist’s professional activities,” a criminal offense, over incidents of election-day unrest on October 4, involving reporters from pro-government TV channels Imedi and Rustavi 2, as well as the similarly government-leaning Public Broadcaster.
Garibashvili Released on Bail: While face masks were carefully zipped up as evidence and Rustaveli Avenue unblocked by arrests, Georgia’s former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, once one of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s closest allies, has been indicted on serious money-laundering charges, as authorities confirmed what corruption watchdogs have long alleged — that the former GD strongman declared wealth far beyond what could be legally obtained. Garibashvili, who “fully cooperated” with the investigation targeting him and several former high-ranking GD officials, “admitted to receiving illicit income over the years.” Yet, he walked free from court after being granted bail of GEL 1 million. His passport was seized, and he has been prohibited from leaving the country. As part of the same investigation, authorities arrested two associates of former State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili.
In Other Arrests and Convictions…The State Security Service arrested three Chinese citizens for attempting to purchase two kilograms of uranium and transport it to China via Russia. Meanwhile, the court sentenced former riot police officer Gela Udzilauri to life in prison after finding him guilty of the intentional and contract killing of businessman Levan Jangveladze – a mysterious high-profile case involving a criminal underworld figure and possibly Georgia’s former Prosecutor General, the sanctioned Otar Partskhaladze.
Bitesize
Gakharia Ends Boycott: The Georgian Dream parliament will, at least formally, no longer be one-party, as former and exiled Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s opposition For Georgia party has ended its parliamentary boycott and is set to take up its 12 seats. One on the list has reportedly refused and quit the party. Read details here.
Kallas Hints at Targeted Visa-Free Suspension: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the new rules allowing visa-free travel suspensions for third countries may apply only to “some groups” in Georgia, raising hopes among some that the entire population will not be penalized for the government’s authoritarian drift. Read more here.
Tbilisi Hosted Fifth Silk Road Forum: Tbilisi hosted the biennial Silk Road Forum for the fifth time. The forum, under the theme “Invest in Connectivity – Grow in Stability,” was opened by PM Irakli Kobakhidze and was attended, among others, by Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani PM Ali Asadov. The Asian Development Bank, an official partner, apparently isn’t bothered by GD’s shaky democratic credentials. Read more here.
World Honors Mzia Again: After receiving the EU’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, jailed journalist and founder of the online media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, Mzia Amaghlobeli, has also been named by the International Press Institute (IPI) as one of this year’s World Press Freedom Heroes, alongside six other journalists.
Speaking of the press: A new report by ISFED showed that the ruling party funnels millions to loyal online media outlets, while Georgian Dream’s flagship Imedi TV once again attacked the European Commission, alleging an illegal scheme that bypasses FARA to fund local NGOs it claims are behind the anti-government protests.
International Reports
Russian Oil Arrives at Georgia’s New Kulevi Refinery: Reuters reported that Russia’s Russneft delivered the first shipment of crude oil to Georgia’s newly built Kulevi refinery on the Black Sea coast. The refinery, operated by Black Sea Petroleum, a company founded by Georgian businesswoman Maka Asatian, is valued at around $600–700 million and co-financed by the state-run Georgian Fund for Development. The project, promoted by the government as a strategic step toward energy security, was launched in October 2024 near the Kulevi terminal, with PM Irakli Kobakhidze attending the opening ceremony.
A follow-up investigation by Russian outlet Agentstvo revealed that Asatiani’s family maintains extensive business ties in Russia. Her son, Kakhaber Zhordania, previously owned the Russian oil-trading firm Oil Energy Group and now co-owns a logistics company, SDO-Logistic, with Sergei Alekseev, the son of Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev, First Deputy Chief of Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU). The investigation noted that Alekseev Jr. formerly worked for Russneft, the very company supplying oil to the Georgian refinery.
The investigation further reported that Alekseev Jr. also co-founded a business in southern Russia with Syrian national Mohammad Jaber, known as the leader of the pro-Assad militia Desert Falcons, which guarded oil sites during the Syrian war. While these links have not been independently verified, the report raises concerns over the network of interests surrounding Georgia’s first refinery and its proximity to figures within Russia’s intelligence and wartime oil operations. Georgian officials, meanwhile, insist that the refinery operates in full compliance with national law and does not source oil from sanctioned entities.
GD Lobbies in the U.S.: Reuters also reported that Steve Nicandros, co-founder of the Texas-based oil company Frontera Resources, which years ago was locked in a legal dispute with the Georgian Dream government, is now lobbying U.S. lawmakers against a bill that would prohibit the U.S. government from recognizing Georgian Dream as legitimate. Read more here.
German Media Reports on Georgian Deportees: Several German media outlets reported over the weekend that Georgians made up the second-largest group of deportees from Germany during the first nine months of this year. Deutsche Welle also said that Germany recently deported family members of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent who was assassinated in Berlin in 2019 by a Russian hitman.
What to Expect:
Opposition-Banning Constitutional Appeal: Although Georgian Dream had promised to submit its appeal to the Constitutional Court seeking to ban opposition parties by the end of last week, the document has not yet been published. With the GD-elected President having just appointed a new judge to the Court following another’s resignation, the appeal is now highly expected to be released any day.
From Civil.ge’s Archives:
As Georgia was emerging from the election shock last year, Civil.ge published a Monster piece: “October 27, 2024, was one of the hardest mornings for many Georgians to wake up to. November 6 wasn’t any easier. Just as the pro-Western segment of the country was piecing together the evidence of the alleged scheme behind the shock victory of the Georgian Dream, figuring out the next steps, and searching within itself for the strength to continue the struggle, the re-election of Donald Trump in the United States plunged the country into a whole new level of uncertainty. The hard question now is what it takes to save democracy in one country when democratic values are under threat elsewhere. A bigger question, however, is whether democracy will remain our main focus at all.” Read the full Dispatch here.
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