GEORGIA: Mass Arrests & more – 23rd Oct 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 23rd of October twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

Last week we reported that the Georgian Dream or the Kotsebi Parliament quickly passed a new law to target pro-European demonstrators who have been protesting for almost a year in front of parliament. Instead of fining them by 5,000 Lari, which is almost 1,800 dollars, for blocking the road, now police will arrest them for up to fifteen days for that crime, as well as for wearing masks or any other face covering.

As soon as the law was passed, police started enforcing it. In just two days they arrested fourteen people. One of them is Vakho Sanaia, a famous journalist working for the opposition TV channel Formula. On Tuesday, the 21st, Vaja Siradze, the Chief of Tbilisi Police, said that in total forty-two people have broken the law so far, including for both blocking the road and wearing masks. Some of them have been arrested, and others have cases against them in court.

On Friday, the 17th, the Police raided the houses of former officials of the Kotsebi and people associated with them. This was shocking news, as these people included Irakli Gharibashvili, who was Prime Minister twice under the Kotsebi and Bidzina Ivanishvili’s most trusted ally for a long time; Grigol Liluashvili, who just several months ago was a head of State Security Service, which is a crucial institution tasked with national security issues, but most often used to spy on opposition and maintaining ruling party's power; and Otar Partskaladze, who was a Chief Prosecutor for a brief time years ago, but now is most well known for his business ties with Russia.

None of them have been arrested or charged so far, but authorities are saying that twenty-two locations were raided and over seven million dollars were seized as part of an anti-corruption operation.

On Monday, the 20th, Gogii Gakharia’s party For Georgia, or Sakartvelotvis, announced it is ending its political boycott and will resume working in parliament as well as in municipal councils. In last year’s parliamentary elections, they received twelve seats in parliament; and their results in this year's municipal elections were really low and they barely managed to cross the four percent barrier necessary to have representatives in municipal councils.

Gogi Gakharia posted on Twitter that the events of the 4th of October, when a part of the opposition attempted to storm the presidential palace, were the final straw that showed the failure of boycotting, which left Georgian people defenseless against the Kotsebi’s growing authoritarian tendencies and repression. Gakharia said that his party is entering the parliament to reclaim political space and fight for the country's European future.

On Friday, the 17th, Prime Minister Kobakhidze announced that his party plans to introduce an education reform. The main point that drew attention and criticism was the proposal to reduce Georgia’s twelve-year school education back to eleven years.

At first, this might not seem like a big deal, especially since Georgia used to have an eleven-year system years ago, but there’s a catch. The whole reason why Georgia adopted a twelve-year system was to align with European education standards. Anyone who wants to study for a bachelor’s degree in Europe must complete twelve years of schooling. If Georgian schools no longer provide that, students would need to study an additional year abroad to qualify for university admission.

This sparked concerns that the move could be another step away from European integration.

Next Up. On Sunday, the 19th, Germany’s Foreign Ministry decided to recall its ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, for consultations after months of anti-German and anti-EU rhetoric from the Kotsebi.

Tensions grew after Georgia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Fischer in late September, accusing him of interfering in domestic politics and supporting what it called the opposition's radical agenda. After that meeting, Fischer rejected the accusations and said Georgia’s ruling party caused the recent strain in relations and slowed the country’s path toward Europe. He also said Germany remains a friend of Georgia, despite the Georgian government’s current approach.

In other news. According to a new report by the Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (or ISFED) published on Monday, the 20th, the ruling party paid over 1.5 million Lari, which is over 500,000 dollars, to online media outlets linked to it between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty-five. These same outlets also received nearly 4.3 million Lari, over 1.5 million dollars, from the state budget.

The ISFED says at least twenty-five news agencies operate within the Kotsebi’s online media network, getting steady funding both directly from the party and through public contracts. Local governments and state agencies provided most of that money.

The organization says these media outlets closely follow the ruling party’s narrative, spread its messages, and often take part in coordinated campaigns against the opposition. The ISFED believes the goal is to replace independent online media with government-aligned outlets.

Changing gears. Smartmatic, the voting technology company that provides electronic voting services for Georgia’s Central Election Commission, including during last year’s contested parliamentary elections, now faces serious charges in the United States.

The U.S. Justice Department accused Smartmatic of bribery and money laundering, saying company officials paid a one-million-dollar bribe to a Philippine election official between twenty fifteen and twenty eighteen to secure an election contract. The case raises new concerns about the credibility of Georgia’s electronic voting system, which relies on the company’s technology.

On Monday, the 20th, Elina Valtonen, Finland's Foreign Minister and current Chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said that Georgia has more political prisoners per capita than Russia. She talked about the country's authoritarian trend during the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

In our last show, we reported that she was in Georgia and attended a pro-European demonstration. Georgian authorities fined her for allegedly blocking the road during the protest, and Prime Minister Kobakhidze canceled his meeting with her, though she said that she canceled it.

Valtonen wrote on Twitter that Kobakhidze was welcome to visit Finland any time and attend any demonstration he wanted.

On Wednesday, the 22nd, Mzia Amaglobeli, founder and manager of online media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the highest EU award for individuals who dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought. Amaglobeli was sentenced to two years in prison for resisting a police officer during a pro-European demonstration in Batumi, western Georgia.

The Kotsebi has been on an anti-corruption campaign for the past month, seemingly to rehabilitate its image at least among its own voters. This time, the police arrested Zura Kakabadze, a former president of the Georgian Football Federation. Authorities say that from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty-one Kakabadze used the federation's business accounts for his private profit and gained almost half a million lari (over 180,000 dollars) this way. If proven guilty, he faces up to eleven years in prison.

On Saturday, the 18th, police arrested a nineteen-year-old man in the capital for breaking into and robbing twelve cars in one night. All of the cars belong to people living in the same apartment block. Gangs composed of teenagers have become a widespread problem in Tbilisi; they mainly target drug and tech stores for a quick profit. Since most of them are under eighteen, police are not able to arrest them, as prosecuting underage people is only allowed for violent crimes.

Finally, on Tuesday, the 21st, Reuters reported that the Russian company Russneft shipped over 100,000 metric tons of oil to a Georgian refinery that opened just a year ago. This immediately raised suspicion that Georgia might be dealing with sanctioned companies and goods. Britain sanctioned Russneft just a week ago. In response, the Internal Revenue Service made a vague statement, saying that they cannot say which company the oil belonged to due to trade secrets, but that it was not under international sanctions.

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

This past Saturday, we held a trial of a new kind of gathering. Highly structured but radically equal, very wild. No keynote speakers, no talking heads. Those who join decide who they talk to, but without knowing the identity of who they will meet, they propose and decide what they will discuss. Like we said. Wild, interested in what it was, check the show notes and if you’re interested, we can help you hold one in Georgia.

Nakhvamdis!