GEORGIA: Former PM’s Prison Sentence & more – 15th Jan 2026

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 15th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

Kicking off this edition, on Monday, the 12th, former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili reached a settlement with the Prosecutor’s Office. He will serve five years in prison and pay a 1 million Lari fine, which is over 350,000 dollars. Authorities will also confiscate two cars and over 6 million dollars discovered at his home during a police raid. Prosecutors charged Gharibashvili with money laundering as he failed to declare business income while in office.

Gharibashvili was the first Prime Minister appointed after Ivanishvili stepped away from politics in twenty thirteen, a year after the election victory. Even years ago, Ivanishvili publicly noted that while Gharibashvili fought corruption, questions remained about his extended family’s activities. However, this did not prevent the party from appointing him as prime minister a second time around in twenty twenty-one.

Also on Monday, the 12th, Euronews Georgia announced it will drop all local news coverage to focus strictly on international stories. The station launched in twenty twenty as a franchise of the France-based Euronews network. Its Georgian owner, Silk Road Group, says the channel doesn't earn enough advertising money to cover staff costs and franchise fees.

This decision triggers a major reorganization affecting about one hundred employees who now face an uncertain future. Interestingly, this shift follows the legal troubles of the company’s owner, Gogi Ramishvili, one of the country's wealthiest businessmen. Last summer, police arrested him at the airport after finding a gun in his luggage. He was released on bail, saying he accidentally packed the weapon while heading to France.

Next up. On Monday, the 12th, thousands of protesters marched through Tbilisi to mark one year since police detained Mzia Amaghlobeli, the founder of independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti. She is currently serving a two-year sentence for slapping a police chief during pro-European protests last January.

Since her arrest, Amaghlobeli has become a symbol of resilience in Georgia. Her supporters see the slap as a symbolic act of defiance against a repressive regime rather than a crime. The EU awarded her the Sakharov Prize, its highest honor for human rights.

A recent survey shows that about 60% of Georgians believe the charges against her are unfair. This figure includes 22% of the ruling party’s own voters.

Speaking of Mzia, Irakli Dgebuadze, the Batumi Police Chief she slapped, now holds a high-ranking position in Tbilisi. He moved to the capital and kept a low profile shortly after her imprisonment, but journalists just discovered that for several months, he has been serving as the head of the Main Division for Combating Organized Crime.

Authorities never investigated Mzia’s testimony that Dgebuadze spat in her face, verbally assaulted her, and denied her basic rights in front of other officers. Instead, they decided to keep him out of the public eye.

On Thursday, the 8th, Mamuka Pipia, businessman and the leader of the openly pro-Russian party Solidarity for Peace, met with Georgia’s Patriarch, Ilia II. After the meeting, Pipia told his followers on social media that they discussed the major threats the country is facing: He says that globalists are attacking Christianity in Georgia and that the Church plays the most important role in saving the nation.

This visit is drawing attention because Pipia has very close ties to Moscow. He recently traveled to Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions to meet with local leaders and frequently talks with Russian officials about changing Georgia's foreign policy. His party even wants Georgia to sign an alliance treaty with Russia.

On Wednesday, the 14th, Alexander Dugin, an influential Russian philosopher with close ties to the country's ruling class, said that it's time for Russia to declare itself an empire. He says that the countries, like Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot remain sovereign, as nations without nuclear weapons are relics of the past. He thinks that if Russia does not regain a foothold in those countries, they will become a military outpost for the West or China.

Meanwhile, Irakli Zarkua, a Kotsebi MP known for his aggressive outbursts against party critics, is in hot water after a video of him in Monaco went viral this week. The Facebook page Carspotter Daily Monaco, which typically shares videos of luxury cars and nightlife in Monaco, posted the footage briefly showing Zarkua with his arm around an unidentified woman.

Zarkua, a married man who frequently campaigns on traditional family values, says the video is fake. He says his political opponents used artificial intelligence and Photoshop to create a smear campaign, insisting he never left Tbilisi. Even though the page later deleted the video, the footage and a wave of mocking memes had already spread across social media. When journalists asked for a comment, Zarkua joked ironically that he couldn't talk because he was in Monaco.

Speaking of videos, Igor Kekelia, a public school teacher in Poti, western Georgia, says he lost his job after someone leaked private videos of him online. The footage spread across the city in December, causing him a huge problem. Igor asked the police for help immediately, but investigators still haven't identified the source of the leak or given him the status of a crime victim.

Instead of supporting him, Igor says the school staff bullied and pressured him to resign. When he didn't quit, the school’s disciplinary committee held a sudden meeting on a Sunday the 28th of December and fired him on the 30th. His lawyer says the school broke procedures and ignored Igor's rights just to avoid the controversy.

In more news from western Georgia, in Ozurgeti, a conflict that started between two teenagers escalated into a violent confrontation once their adult relatives stepped in. The fight that took place on Sunday, the 11th, is drawing widespread attention because one of the men involved is an employee of the State Security Service.

The Interior Ministry says the officer went to the scene to help his nephew, but someone struck him in the head during the brawl. He pulled out his gun for self-defense but never fired it. The uncle of the other teenager managed to grab the weapon and later handed it to the police. Tragically, the grandfather of one of the teenagers, who was also involved, died from a heart attack shortly after the fight. The state has now suspended the officer while investigators review security footage.

The US is suspending immigrant visas for citizens of seventy-five countries, including Georgia. Starting the 21st, the State Department will stop issuing these visas for an indefinite period. Officials say they need this time to re-evaluate and update their screening and vetting procedures. This decision places Georgia on a list alongside neighbors like Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. This will not affect people who are applying for tourist visas.

For several days now, Iranians living in Georgia have been gathering in front of the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi to protest the Khomeini regime and showcase solidarity with hundreds of people killed and thousands detained during ongoing protests in Iran. Protesters are saying that the internet has been shut down in Iran and they are unable to communicate with their families back home.

Finally, in a new GEOpolitics op-ed titled Weaponization of Poverty – A Primary Tool for Regime Survival in Georgia, Sergi Kapanadzei explores how the ruling party managed to stay in power following the twenty twenty-four contested parliamentary elections and the massive protests that followed. He says that while the party dominates the narrative through powerful propaganda and the capture of all public institutions, the real secret to its survival is the weaponization of poverty.

Kapanadze goes into deep detail to analyze how the government uses financial vulnerability to ensure obedience. He explains that in many regions, the state is the only major employer, so citizens fear losing their jobs or social aid if they oppose the party. He says the regime carefully times pension increases around elections to buy loyalty. The author describes how high household debt and massive fines for protesters turn political dissent into an unaffordable financial risk.

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

Quick question, is there a specific monopoly in Georgia you think is a big problem? Let us know at info@rorshok.com

Nakhvamdis!