Georgia’s Interior Ministry has announced the arrest of 13 individuals, including seven minors, who support or subscribe to Nazi and fascist ideology. According to the investigators, the detainees had been carrying out acts of extreme physical and psychological violence against people of different ages.
Vazha Siradze, director of the Tbilisi Police Department, stated on Monday that the detained members of violent groups ‘identified as neo-Nazis and followed a fascist ideology’.
They also use extreme violence against their victims to gain notoriety and spread their beliefs, Siradze said, adding the individuals used various blunt and sharp objects as weapons, including batons and brass knuckles.
‘They were particularly brutal toward those who did not share fascist ideology,’ the statement read.
Alongside physical violence, the group members robbed their victims and extorted money from them, as well as recording acts of violence, torture, and humiliation and sharing them on online platforms, Siradze said.
‘Notably, due to conflicts of interest and disagreements, members of different neo-Nazi groups also subjected each other to brutal violence, as evidenced by material collected during the ongoing investigation’.
According to the ministry, around 10 people were harmed by the violent acts, including two minors. Searches recovered firearms, weapons, items bearing Nazi symbols, mobile phones, masks, and various electronic devices belonging to the suspects.
The investigation is proceeding under several criminal charges, including premeditated torture of a minor, group-perpetrated abuse, illegal acquisition, possession, and use of firearms, organising violence, robbery, and extortion.
The statement was accompanied by video footage showing both episodes of violence and materials allegedly seized from the suspects’ homes.
‘The crime carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years’, Siradze said.
The ministry added that, as part of the investigation, four individuals already in prison — previously detained, apparently on other charges — have been additionally charged with organising and participating in group violence.
In recent months, investigative agencies have reported other disturbing cases involving individuals, who, according to the authorities, adhere to neo-Nazi and fascist ideologies.
Siradze stated on Monday that ‘several leaders of radical fascist groups’ have already gotten jail terms, with 24 members of the groups also detained.
One high-profile trial involved a 15-year-old boy, whose brutal assault in July 2025 led to the arrest of nine individuals, including six minors.
The court sentenced all three adults in December to 10 years each, three of the defendants aged 16–18 to seven and a half years, and three others under 16 to six years and eight months.
