GEORGIA: Forced Evictions in Tbilisi & more – 31st July 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 31st of July twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Friday, the 24th, the police forcibly evicted dozens of families from condemned buildings in Tbilisi, arresting at least seventeen people, including local residents and activists, who showed up to protest. The confrontation between police and locals escalated after moving trucks arrived. An ambulance team had to treat a man after officers allegedly dragged him by the hair and beat him. Another was called degrading names. Lawyers say police used excessive force and mocked detainees.

The Interior Ministry said arrests were for disobeying the police, but detainees insist the police gave no orders to follow. Evictions targeted residents of five condemned buildings, many of whom held Internally Displaced Person status, as they were from Abkhazia or South Ossetia.

One of the evicted residents said police stole his cash, which he kept in his apartment.

Next up, on Sunday, the 27th, Georgia’s State Security Service arrested Gogi Khaindrava, former Deputy Defense Minister, and two others in a major corruption case involving over 1.3 million Lari, almost half a million dollars.

Investigators say Khaindrava, along with the Ministry's head of procurement department and a close relative of the Minister himself, set up a scheme in twenty twenty-three to steal money from the state budget. They rigged a tender for medical equipment, skipped proper market research, and ensured only companies tied to one of the suspects could participate.

These companies used fake invoices and fake transactions to artificially inflate prices by selling the same equipment multiple times. As a result, the Defense Ministry overpaid massively. One of the suspects reportedly promised bidders guaranteed victory thanks to connections inside the ministry.

All three face seven to eleven years in prison if convicted.

Still on arrests, Luka Kurtanidze, the Olympic wrestling champion, ex-president of Georgia’s wrestling federation, and former MP of the Georgian Dream or the Kotsebi, was arrested on Sunday, the 27th, in Kobuleti, western Georgia, for assaulting his ex-wife and violating a restraining order.

His ex, Khatuna Mikatsadze, said he broke into her home and physically attacked her in front of the police. She showed signs of injury and said she suffered a concussion. Mikatsadze said this wasn’t the first time he assaulted her and said the police repeatedly refused to act in the past, telling her he’s too well-connected.

The video showing Kurtanidze acting unhinged and trying to attack her, while police are present, has been posted online and is available in the show notes.

EUvsDisinfo, an EU project fighting Russian disinformation, published an article on Thursday, the 24th, calling the most popular TV channel in Georgia, Imedi TV, a propaganda megaphone that harms the country’s EU ambitions. The article says Imedi pushes anti-Western rhetoric, echoes Kremlin-style narratives, and acts as a tool of the ruling party to discredit the EU.

It also mentioned smear campaigns against EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski and Germany’s Ambassador Peter Fischer. The piece added that Imedi TV’s owner Irakli Rukhadze is connected to Russian elites.

Check the article with the link in the show notes.

Last week, we reported a shooting in Batumi, western Georgia, by Turkish nationals, which left another Turkish person dead. It seems like Batumi became a hotspot for Turkish criminal elements, as two other people were arrested on Thursday, the 24th, for firing multiple rounds at the Casino and then fleeing. Fortunately, no one was injured.

Police raided their homes several days later and found a large amount of cocaine along with illegal firearms. If convicted, they face up to twenty years or even life imprisonment, mainly due to drug possession.

In another update, in our previous episode, we covered the news about the top floor of an apartment block collapsing in Tbilisi, killing two residents. Even though officials had declared the building unsafe for some time, some residents still refused to move out.

This week, Khaki Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi, responded to criticism that said he was responsible for the collapse, as municipal services failed to act until it was too late. Instead of taking responsibility, he pointed fingers at residents, saying that some people living in unsafe buildings refuse to move out due to their political leanings. He said that despite being offered alternative lodgings, a small portion of residents refuse them to sabotage the process of resettlement.

Speaking of Kaladze, on Thursday, the 24th, he said that if it was up to him, he would expel EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski from Georgia. He made this statement after journalists asked about Herczynski’s recent interview, where the ambassador stressed that Georgia must stop political repression, free unjustly detained people, repeal repressive laws, and open dialogue to return to the EU path.

Kaladze rejected this, insisting the ruling party has no unjust detainees and accusing the ambassador of abusing his status to hurt Georgia. He called Herczynski’s words harmful and part of a political agenda against the country. Kaladze said that respecting Georgia’s sovereignty should come first.

Meanwhile, Herczynski warned that failing to meet EU recommendations might lead to consequences, including possibly suspending the country’s visa-free regime.

On Tuesday, the 29th, Misha Saakashvili, Georgia’s imprisoned third president, wrote on social media that Bidzina Ivanishvili ordered the State Security Service to stage a major provocation. He said the ruling party planned to accuse the United National Movement or the Natsebi of plotting an armed coup. He said the Kotsebi wanted to arrest as many party leaders as possible, but were especially interested in Levan Khkabeishvili, the most active and well-known figure in the party.

He also said that the government would use modern falsification methods to frame his party and firmly denied that the Natsebi planned to use any kind of violence.

In related news. Just a day after State Security arrested Lasha Tsanava, a member of the Natsebi’s Political Council and a friend of Levan Khabeishvili, authorities accused him of fraud.

He allegedly promised to help a foreign national get a one-year residency permit in Georgia by using his connections. In return, he asked for over 5,000 dollars. Authorities say that they recorded audio and video of Tsanava meeting the foreigner and taking money from him.

Kabeishvili said that there was nothing illegal in what Tsanava was doing and hundreds of people offer similar services every day. He considered the whole case fabricated by the State Security Service to discredit his party.

On Thursday, the 24th, Badra Gunba, the separatist president of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, called for a meeting of the security council. He said that Ukrainian drones, which were on their way to attack Russian targets, had crossed Abkhazian airspace. He ordered the Ministry of Defense to deepen cooperation with Russia’s Federal Security Service to have a coordinated response to such cases in the future.

On Saturday, the 26th, a delegation of the ruling party’s MPs started their official visit to China. They plan to meet representatives of the ruling Communist Party, the National People’s Congress, Shenzhen’s city government, and major tech firms. The trip shows the ruling party’s push to deepen ties with China, especially now that its relationship with the EU has hit rock bottom.

The visit drew criticism from U.S. Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, who has been very critical of the Kotsebi for the past two years. He warned them on social media that cozying up to authoritarian China could threaten Georgia’s hard-earned freedom.

Finally, on Sunday, the 27th, a protest took place at the Fencing World Championship in Tbilisi. The reason was the participation of Russian athletes with military ranks. Protesters showed up with anti-occupation and anti-war posters. The Russian section at the Swiss Embassy in Georgia called the protest Russophobic.

Recall that Russia does not have an embassy in Georgia, since the two countries haven’t had an official diplomatic relationship since the two thousand eight war, so a limited number of Russia's diplomatic staff operate from the Swiss embassy.

Dmitry Svichev, a Russian MP, criticized anti-Russian protests, but thanked the Georgian police for keeping peace, although he said he wished they had acted more forcefully against protestors.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Want to pass along an episode? Go to www.rorshok.com/georgia and download any of the shows as .mp3 files. Link in the show notes!

Nakhvamdis!