GEORGIA: Misha’s Sentence & more – 13th Mar 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 13th of March twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Wednesday, the 12th, former Georgian President Misha Saakashvili, who’s been in prison since twenty twenty-one, was sentenced to another nine years for embezzling 9 million lari, which is over 3 million dollars, through fake expense claims for luxury spending.

Saakashvili, who served as president from two thousand four to twenty thirteen, denies the charges and says the expenses were legitimate. After the verdict, he posted on Twitter, calling it an outrageous case of political persecution.

Since the sentences in Georgia run concurrently and he is already serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, this will prolong his imprisonment by three more years.

There are two more ongoing cases against him, one for entering Georgia illegally in twenty twenty-one, which led to his capture, and another one for his role in crackdown on protesters in two thousand seven.

After talks held within the Geneva International Discussions format on the 4th and 5th of March, Russia reminded Georgia about a promise of an apology for the two thousand eight Russia-Georgia War, which Bidzina Ivanishvili made during the election campaign last year.

While Russia appears to be satisfied with the more conciliatory approach of the Georgian Dream or the Kotsebi, it still stresses the need for Georgia to make a legal commitment to the non-use of force against its breakaway regions.

Meanwhile, the Georgian side maintains that Russia is still failing to uphold the two thousand eight peace agreement by continuing the militarization of the occupied regions. The Russian side also refuses to have any talks about the possibility of persons displaced by conflict to return to their homes.

On a somewhat related issue. On Wednesday, the 12th, Oleksii Reznikov, the Former Ukrainian Defense Minister, denied allegations often made by the Kotsebi that Ukraine and the Western powers pressured Georgia to open a second front against Russia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He called the allegations complete lies and part of Russia’s information war.

Speaking in an interview with Radio Free Europe, he stressed that Ukraine understands how sensitive the topic of breakaway regions is for Georgia. He also questioned the military logic of such a move, arguing that a second front in Georgia would only last a few days at best.

Reznikov made it clear that during his time in office, no one in Kyiv ever discussed or attempted to pressure Georgia on this subject.

Changing topics. Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, gave an interview to Voice of America on Thursday, the 6th, where he criticized Georgia’s newly passed laws, calling them draconian and unprecedented in scale and speed. He said these laws aim to suppress dissent, restrict independent media, and silence civil society. He warned that the government’s actions reflect a deliberate policy to crush opposition and violate Georgia’s international commitments to human rights.

According to Krivosheev, the government is tightening regulations on public gatherings, increasing fines, and enabling selective detentions of protesters. He said his organization has documented widespread police brutality, including beatings, denial of legal representation, and arbitrary arrests.

Next up, on Saturday, the 8th, as Georgia celebrated International Women’s Day, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (or GYLA) shared an article warning about the dangerous deterioration of women’s rights in the country. The GYLA believes that instead of addressing gender-related issues, the government is actively rolling back equality laws and enabling gender-based violence, including sexual harassment. It links this trend to the Kotsebi’s growing authoritarianism and human rights violations. As we reported last week, the ruling party is removing terms like gender and gender equality from legislation, distancing Georgia from the Istanbul Convention’s standards.

Since November twenty twenty-four, the police have increasingly used sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and physical violence against women protesters.

In related news, last Wednesday, the 5th, Kristi Pirveli and Barbare Rokita, the two female owners of Crab Coffee, which has been providing free tea and coffee for demonstrators on Rustaveli for months, were assaulted, resulting in a fractured tooth for Pirveli and a broken nose for Rokita.

In an interview with Radio Liberty, Pirveli recalled that they were in a local market about to head to the protests when a man began verbally assaulting them. When she confronted him, he kicked her in the stomach. She defended herself, and the attacker fled the scene.

She said that police advised her to retract her report, because she also might be found guilty since she fought back. She stated that the police expected her to "just lie down and die."

The attacker was later detained, but released on bail.

Georgia is tightening drug-related legislation. On Tuesday, the 11th, parliament initiated changes in the Administrative Offenses Code, introducing fines between 500 and 2,000 lari, which is between 180 and 700 dollars, or up to sixty days of administrative detention for offenses such as the illegal manufacturing, possession, or use of narcotics, or avoiding a test to determine narcotic influence. Committing these offenses will result in restrictions on gun-related rights and the suspension of driving privileges for three years.

Since most of the drug-related offenses are already regulated by criminal law and result in harsh sentences, these changes in administrative code are most likely targeting personal use of marijuana, which in small quantities is not punishable under criminal law.

Twice in just over a week, nearly identical incidents occurred at the same spot in the center of Tbilisi. On Monday, the 3rd, a car speeding across the Metekhi Bridge veered off course and fell into the river. The driver did not survive. Just days later, on Tuesday, the 11th, another car plunged from the same bridge, into the river below. This time, rescue teams managed to pull the driver to safety in time, perhaps because they had already dealt with a similar situation just days earlier.

Also on Tuesday, Gogi Saganelidze, the newly appointed ambassador to Belarus, spoke about the need to strengthen ties between the Belarusian and Georgian people. After presenting his credentials to President Lukashenko for official confirmation, Saganelidze highlighted the positive relations between the two peoples and the importance of developing bilateral cooperation during difficult times in the international arena.

Lukashenko warmly welcomed the ambassador and had kind words for the Kotsebi, saying that their politics align with Belarus's stance on defending their sovereignty from foreign interference.

In an interview with business portal bm.ge Vakhtang Kandelaki, head of the Georgian Hospitality Fund, discussed the sector’s struggles caused by declining tourism and political instability. He highlighted that even during the pandemic, despite all restrictions, economic activity was more robust. In contrast, recent months, especially November and December, saw complete stagnation. Many people now avoid restaurants and hotels, feeling guilty about leisure during the political situation.

Kandelaki said that businesses face significant challenges, including employee retention and financial obligations to investors and banks. He criticized the government for not taking this situation seriously, saying that officials manipulate economic data to create a false sense of stability.

On another note, according to the National Statistics Office, direct foreign investment in Georgia totaled $1.3 billion dollars in twenty twenty-four, a 30% decline compared to twenty twenty-three.

The three largest investor countries were the UK, Malta, and the Netherlands. Together, they contributed nearly 60% of all direct foreign investment.

The top three industries for investors were the financial and insurance sector, followed by manufacturing and real estate. They received 64% of all direct foreign investment.

Closing with cultural news, Donald Rayfield, a British professor of the Georgian language at Queen Mary University of London, refused an award from Georgia’s ruling party. The ceremony was planned in Britain at the Royal Asiatic Society, where Rayfield was set to be honored for his contributions to the Georgian language, literature, and history.

The Embassy of Georgia in Britain, the Ministry of Culture, and the Writers' House organized the event. The issue arose when Rayfield declined to accept the award from Ketevan Dumbadze, a former Kotsebi MP and current director of the Writers’ House. Organizers then offered to have someone else present the award, but Rayfield ultimately rejected it altogether, stating he could not accept an award from Georgia’s illegitimate government.

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

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