GEORGIA: State Security Agency’s Ex-Head Arrested & more – 24th Dec 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 24th of December twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

Kicking things off, on Tuesday, the 23rd, authorities arrested Gogil Liluashvili, former head of the State Security Agency. This intelligence agency is supposed to protect national security, but often serves as a repressive tool for the ruling party to spy, sabotage, discredit or undermine critical voices and opposition. Liluashvili ran it for several years until Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of the parliamentary majority, replaced him a few months ago.

Authorities charged Liluashvili on several counts, including receiving bribes from businessmen to lobby for their projects. He also faces charges for covering for scam call centers. In twenty twenty-two, opposition media outlets ran stories accusing Liluashvili of these exact actions. In response, Liluashvili sued them for defamation and won in all three court instances, forcing the channels to publicly apologize and pay for damages.

Up next. On Friday, the 19th, Zurab Japaridze, one of four leaders of the Coalition for Change or Tsvlilebebistvis, was released after serving a seven-month sentence. He received this sentence for refusing to attend the Parliament’s temporary investigative committee. Three other leaders of the party remain in prison.

During an interview with opposition media, a journalist asked him about the new sabotage case, which the Georgian Dream or Kotsebi charged him and other politicians with while he was in prison. Authorities say they worked in the interest of a foreign power to hurt Georgia. Japaridze answered that this was a scare tactic. He said that the Kotsebi would release opposition members for a bit, but if they won't stay quiet — the government will force them to either flee the country or go to prison for a long time. He said he is not planning to leave and will be joining the protests on that same day.

In related news. On Monday, the 22nd, Tsvlilebebistvis requested nine international organizations to investigate the government’s use of illegal substances and torture against pro-European protesters between November and December of last year. Japaridze said the party sent evidence to different representatives and organizations within the UN, the EU, and the Council of Europe. He said that they had gathered enough documentation and legal proof to trigger an international investigation.

Just several hours after this announcement, the Court ordered Japaridze to pay a bail of thirty thousand Lari (11,000 dollars) for the sabotage case against him. Authorities also confiscated his passport and banned him from going abroad without the prosecutor's permission.

On Tuesday, the 23rd, the town of Dmanisi in eastern Georgia held a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. However, not everyone in the city was feeling festive. While the ceremony was underway and people were gathered, someone projected on a building wall footage from the November–December protests of last year, showing special forces attacking and beating protesters.

Check out a video of the ceremony in the show notes.

Meanwhile, a protester in Tbilisi now will have to go to court for standing on a sidewalk during a rally on Rustaveli Avenue. Activist Ani Akhmeteli says police charged her with an administrative offense for allegedly blocking or restricting people’s movement.

This comes after new protest rules took effect on the 12th of December, extending restrictions to demonstrations held on sidewalks. Under the new law, a first violation can lead to up to fifteen days in administrative detention, and up to twenty days for demonstration organizers. Repeat violations can trigger criminal charges. This is the first case of its kind and shows the Kotsebi’s continued attempts to kill the protests.

In similar news. Last week, a court sentenced Misha Shalvashvili to ten days of administrative detention for insulting a judge in a Facebook comment.

Insulting public officials, including on Facebook, became an administrative offense in the summer. The measure is intended to punish individuals who insult public officials in connection with the performance of their duties.

On Thursday, the 18th, the United States sanctioned a Georgian judge, but not for the reasons you might expect. Sanctions target Gocha Lordkipanidze, who serves as a judge at the International Criminal Court (or ICC). Lordkipanidze, a former Georgian Justice Minister who has been serving at the ICC since twenty twenty, is now facing a U.S. travel ban and freeze of his assets.

The Trump administration hit him with these sanctions because of his role in a legal case against Israel. Specifically, Lordkipanidze was part of the majority court ruling that rejected Israel’s attempt to stop an investigation into its actions in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the judge is participating in a politicized effort to prosecute Israeli citizens without their country's consent, while the court calls this a direct attack on its independence

On Friday, the 19th, the European Commission released its latest report on visa-free travel for Georgia. The Commission said the government failed to meet the basic requirements to keep the regime active. This includes backsliding on anti-corruption efforts and shifting visa policies away from EU standards, such as granting visa-free entry to Chinese citizens and others that the EU considers security risks.

The report says the government ignored previous recommendations to scrap laws that restrict human rights. So, the EU is now considering a phased suspension of the visa-free regime. First, officials with diplomatic and service passports will need visas. If the government does not fix these issues, the EU says it may extend the requirement to all Georgian citizens, ending visa-free travel entirely.

On Thursday, the 19th, the British Embassy in Georgia issued a statement about Russia’s shadow fleet. This fleet uses dilapidated tankers that ignore safety rules to transport oil and fund the war in Ukraine. The Embassy says all partners, including Georgia, must strengthen efforts to prevent imports through these channels.

This call follows reports that the Russian company Russneft recently sent its first oil shipment to a Georgian refinery. Britain recently sanctioned Russneft and the specific ship involved. While the Embassy does not explicitly accuse the government of wrongdoing, it says Georgia’s reliance on Russian oil has grown since twenty twenty-two. They now urge Georgia to diversify energy sources to improve security and reduce revenues flowing to the Russian war machine.

On Sunday, Tarash Papaskua, Georgia’s Ambassador to South Korea, announced he is stepping down and leaving the diplomatic service. In his farewell message, he stated that Georgia's internal political situation has taken a toll on the country's diplomatic influence and international image over the last two years.

He also spoke of successes such as finishing free trade negotiations and seeing South Korean tourism to Georgia quadruple.

On Thursday, the 18th, a group of sixty-five academics from world-renowned universities—including Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, and Columbia—sent a letter to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze urging him to rethink the proposed higher education reform. The professors argue that the plan fails to fix existing problems like low academic salaries and graduate unemployment.

The scholars state that the reform will increase government control over the education sector and weaken university independence. They highlight that the new measures will make it easier to dismiss faculty members with differing opinions and reduce faculty control over academic programs. The letter also expresses concern over the recent arrests of students and staff for participating in pro-European protests

And to wrap up this episode, on Tuesday, the 23rd, Magticom, one of the biggest telecom companies in Georgia, publicly accused Energo-Pro Georgia, a utility provider, of sabotaging it. Magti says Energo-Pro is creating artificial obstacles by restricting access to electricity poles across the regions. While Magti pays to use this infrastructure under existing contracts, they say the utility company is now selectively delaying work or blocking it entirely.

This situation directly impacts people in rural areas during the holiday season. Because technicians cannot access the poles, Magti cannot connect new subscribers or even repair existing service outages. Magti says these restrictions feel like a deliberate attempt to cause public frustration. They are calling on Energo-Pro to restore access immediately so families aren't left without internet and television over the New Year.

Aaand that’s it for this week!

We just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s been listening, subscribing, and sharing their thoughts with us. Your support keeps us going, and we’re grateful for every one of you. Happy holidays!

Nakhvamdis!