We continue our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests over Georgia’s EU accession U-turn.

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Former and current public officials march in Tbilisi

Former and current public officials are holding a march in the centre of Tbilisi, from Republic Square to Rustaveli Avenue.

They are holding a banner with the inscription ‘Oath of a Public Servant: We serve the people and the state; We protect the constitution of Georgia.’

The march also features posters reading: ‘Police everywhere, justice nowhere’ and ‘Solidarity with public servants’, alongside the flags of Georgia and the European Union.

Other protesters also joined the march, expressing their solidarity with the public servants.

In a rare display of dissent, employees from various state bodies, including several ministries and Tbilisi City Hall, have publicly criticised the ruling party’s decision to halt the EU integration. 

Leaders of the Georgian Dream openly condemned the public servants’ protest, and in the following days, a legislative change was announced that would simplify the ‘reorganisation’ of public agencies — a term used by the government to refer to lay-offs.

The ruling party frames the planned change as a way to revitalise public services, while critics fear it will be used to dismiss employees who condemned Georgian Dream’s decision. 

[read more: From fireworks to the public sector: Georgian Dream introduces new legislation amid protests]

Public Defender’s Office says 226 protesters cited ill-treatment, 157 had visible injuries

The Public Defender’s Office has visited 352 protesters across pre-trial detention centres and hospitals since the beginning of the protests in late November. 

The office said that 226 of those they visited cited ill-treatment at the hands of the police, while 157 had visible injuries. 

During the ongoing demonstrations in Tbilisi, numerous protesters have publicly shared their experiences of police brutality, describing how they were severely beaten, verbally abused, and humiliated by officers.

According to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), the vast majority of those detained during the protests were beaten. The organisation adds that the authorities had tortured and degraded demonstrators and journalists.

Pro-EU teacher assaulted in southern Georgia

Mautskebeli has reported that Pikria Epitashvili, a 30-year-old employee of a public school in Kazreti, southern Georgia, was attacked and physically assaulted.

‘An unknown person attacked a public school employee and inflicted a wound on her face with a razor’, Mautskebeli reported, adding that the assailant called her an ‘agent’ and told her to ‘fuck off to your beloved Europe’.

Court upholds Gvaramia’s detention

Mtavari Arkhi has reported that opposition leader Nika Gvaramia’s appeal for release was rejected.  

Gvaramia, a leader of the Coalition for Change group, was violently detained on 4 December near the offices of the opposition Droa party. He was charged with petty hooliganism and disobeying the police on 6 December.

Youth sentenced to two months for allegedly damaging surveillance cameras

Judge Teona Epitashvili has sentenced 23-year-old Daniel Mumladze to two months of pretrial detention as a preventive measure on charges of inflicting damage to personal property as part of a group. 

RFE/RL has cited Mumladze’s lawyer, Omar Purtseladze, as saying that there were no other people charged or tried alongside Mumladze, despite him being charged with committing a crime as part of a group.

The lawyer has said that the case covered damage to seven surveillance cameras during the protests on Rustaveli, but did not specify when the cameras were allegedly damaged.

Purtseladze added that the judge did not take into account that Mumladze has a two-year-old child and is the sole breadwinner of his family. He added that his client was sentenced to detention despite there being no danger of him leaving the country or destroying evidence of his alleged crime.

The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for 30 January.

Demonstration in Chiatura

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Chiatura in western Georgia to protest against the government’s EU u-turn. Demonstrators stated that Georgia’s future is in Europe, not in Russia, Mtavari Arkhi reported.

Protester ‘more or less’ stable after days in induced coma

Kakhaber Chelidze, the clinical director of the Ingorokva Clinic, told IPN that the health condition of 21-year-old Aleksi Tirkia, who was injured during the protest and put into an induced coma, is ‘more or less’ stable, and adequate contact can be established with the patient.

However, doctors noted that they do not yet know the functional condition of his injured eye, as the patient's wound is bandaged.

Tirkia was injured during the pro-EU demonstration on 3 December in Tbilisi and woke up from an induced coma yesterday.

He reportedly required emergency surgery after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister. On.ge quoted his attending physician as stating that he was admitted with an open scalp wound.

Coca-Cola Bottlers cancel New Year’s Caravan

Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia has cancelled their annual New Year’s Eve Caravan due to ongoing events in the country.

‘Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia expresses its solidarity with all those who tirelessly and fearlessly stand guard over our country’s European future’, the announcement read.

MEPs arrive in Georgia

MEP Rasa Juknevičienė has arrived in Georgia along with other colleagues from the European Parliament. 

According to her, they will meet with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, opposition parties, civil society representatives, and journalists.

On my way to Tbilisi with @Europarl_EN colleagues to show solidarity with Georgians fighting for a European future! 🇬🇪🇪🇺

On the agenda: meetings with President @Zourabichvili_S, opposition parties, civil society representatives, and journalists.

📷 @RLanschot pic.twitter.com/FzAhdbvLLc

— Rasa Juknevičienė (@RJukneviciene) December 11, 2024

Batumi University Dean and four students sentenced to pre-trial detention 

The Dean of Batumi Art Teaching University, Mamuka Jorbenadze, and four students have been sentenced to pre-trial detention as a preventive measure, local media reported, adding that the next trial will be held on 28 January.

Earlier today, the General Prosecutor’s Office charged five people with ‘aggravated violence’ in Batumi. 

The Interior Ministry’s investigation claimed that on 3 December, ‘in the administrative building of a university in Batumi, the dean and students of the same university beat two people in a group’. 

If found guilty, they face up to two years imprisonment.

According to local media Batumelebi, Jorbenadze has been an active participant in the ongoing protests in Batumi and was actively involved in organising the university strike. 

Batumelebi also reported that according to Jorbenadze’s lawyer, Davit Japaridze, the professor and his students were arrested on political grounds.

SJC: foreign citizens called by Migration Department

The local human rights organisation Social Justice Centre (SJC) has reported that according to information received in recent days by the Legal Aid Network hotline, foreign citizens participating in the protests are being summoned to the Interior Ministry’s Migration Department.

‘The Migration Department employees are calling and asking foreign citizens who were administratively detained during the ongoing protests in Tbilisi to report to the department immediately’, SJC reported.

‘The department employees are not explaining to them the legal basis for the summons. However, the majority of them have a legal basis for being in Georgia’.

SJC also stated that according to reports, one of the individuals who reported to the Migration Department was forcibly deported from Georgia.

The organisation stated that using this measure is unjustified and should be discontinued.

Georgian Dream releases ‘additional information’ about phone conversation with Macron

After the administration of French President Emmanuel Macron published their statement regarding the phone call between Macron and Georgian Dream founder and Honorary Chair Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream published a second statement, saying that ‘the French President, during conversation, did indeed raise the issue of releasing the detainees’.

According to the statement, Ivanishvili told Macron that ‘the majority of those detained are being held administratively and all of them will be released in the near future’.

‘As for those arrested on criminal charges, it was explained to Macron that Georgia is a state governed by the rule of law and all perpetrators are held accountable for their crimes in accordance with the requirements of the law and a high standard of evidence’, the statement read.

‘Bidzina Ivanishvili also explained to the French President that the police acted with a higher standard than European standards against the large-scale violence of the protesters. In addition, the honorary chair of the party noted [...] that an investigation into individual misconduct has been launched and is ongoing’.

Human rights organisations note ‘new form of police terror’

Over 10 human rights organisations have issued a statement noting that police are forcibly taking some citizens in for questioning, which they claim is a ‘new form of police terror’.

‘In particular, police officers go to the addresses of citizens participating in the demonstration, tell them or their family members that they want to serve a warrant and demand to be allowed into their apartments, and then forcibly, against the will of the citizens and without explaining the grounds, take them to the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’, the statement read.

'They are also interrogated forcibly. Lawyers are not given the opportunity to meet with citizens and provide representation. Lawyers have tried several times over the past few days to enter the forcibly transferred persons, however, to no avail’.

Macron administration issues statement regarding phone call with Ivanishvili

Soon after the ruling Georgian Dream party posted information about the phone call between party founder and Honorary Chair Bidzina Ivanishvili and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Macron Administration released its own statement on the events. 

According to them, during the call, Macron called for the release of those detained during pro-EU demonstrations in Georgia.

‘[Macron] condemned the intimidation of representatives of civil society and the opposition as well as the violence of the security forces against peaceful demonstrators and journalists. He demanded the release of all those who had been arbitrarily arrested and called for respect for freedom of expression and assembly’, the statement read.

‘[Macron] once again regretted that Georgia had deviated from its European trajectory and reiterated his conviction that the relationship between the European Union and Georgia would necessarily be affected by the directions that have been or will be taken’.

According to the statement, Macron called for inclusive dialogue with all political parties and representatives of civil society in accordance with the European and democratic aspirations of the Georgian people, ‘which he once again welcomed’.

Georgia Dream: Gharibashvili injured shoulder during workout

According to local media, the ruling Georgian Dream party’s press team has stated that former Prime Minister and current chair of Georgian Dream Irakli Gharibashvili ‘injured his shoulder during a workout and required minor medical attention’.

‘Since yesterday evening, the so-called media outlets controlled by the radical opposition and interested parties have been spreading disinformation, as if Irakli Gharibashvili was taken to an American Hospital with multiple injuries. There are reports of a physical confrontation within the party’, the statement read. ‘Obviously, this is another disinformation and a feeble attempt to mislead the public’.

The statement also noted that Gharibashvili continues to work, and called on the public ‘not to pay attention to the lies that have been spread’.

Earlier today, the opposition-aligned TV channel Mtavari Arkhi reported that Gharibashvili ‘was taken to an American Hospital with multiple injuries’, citing their ‘reliable source’.

RFE/RL: EU mulling visa liberalisation suspension of diplomatic passports

RFE/RL’s Europe Editor, Rikard Jozwiak, posted on X that ‘the [EU] is mulling visa [liberalisation] suspension of [Georgian] diplomatic passports’, which ‘only requires [a] qualified majority’ to pass. 

the 🇪🇺 is mulling visa lib suspension of 🇬🇪 diplomatic passports, only requires qualified majority. meeting on 16 Dec may come early for decision, possibly just 🇪🇺 Commission getting pol guidance. One issue is that officials have "normal" passports also so mainly symbolic gesture https://t.co/EVhko1QWPv

— Rikard Jozwiak (@RikardJozwiak) December 10, 2024

Zourabichvili may lose State Security Service protection after presidential term ends

Local media has reported that Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili may not be given state guards after her presidential term ends.

Media stated that according to an amendment proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, if the president, prime minister, or speaker of parliament are found by the Constitutional Court to have violated the Constitution, the State Security Service will no longer provide any services after the expiration of their term of office. 

Georgian Dream has already been considering the bill in an expedited manner. A first reading has been supported by the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Committee, according to media reports. 

Ivanishvili speaks with Macron

The ruling Georgian Dream party has posted on Facebook that a telephone conversation was held between French President Emmanuel Macron and Georgian Dream founder and honorary chair Bidzina Ivanishvili.

‘Macron noted that he was concerned about the situation in Georgia and expressed his desire to contribute to its complete de-escalation. In turn, Bidzina Ivanishvili thanked the French President for the initiative and welcomed the idea of ​​joint efforts’, the post read. 

‘Ivanishvili and Macron agreed that contact would be held again in the coming days and the progress achieved would be assessed. The conversation lasted for an hour’.

Human Rights Watch calls on EU to muster consensus for sanctions

Human Rights Watch has called on EU member states to ‘muster the consensus to use the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime to sanction officials responsible for authorising and carrying out beatings and violence against Georgia’s protesters’.

‘The EU should also consider imposing Schengen visa requirements for Georgian government officials and diplomats. Sanctioning authorities should happen in parallel with stepped-up, flexible democracy support for civil society and media’, the statement read.

US  ‘still considering’ further sanctions on Georgia

Journalist Alex Raufoglu has posted on X that US Assistant Secretary of State Dafna H. Rand told him the US is ‘still considering’ further sanctions on Georgia.

‘Everyone from President Biden to Secretary Blinken on down is watching what is happening in Georgia with great alarm’, she said.

".. Everyone from President Biden to Secretary Blinken on down is watching what is happening in Georgia with great alarm" — Assistant Secretary of State Dafna Rand tells me

2/3 pic.twitter.com/eWrSCZ0RkH

— Alex Raufoglu (@ralakbar) December 11, 2024

Six more detained on administrative charges

The Interior Ministry has confirmed to Publika that during the 10-11 December protest on Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue, six people were detained on administrative charges.

Mathew Miller: wait for sanctions to be announced

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has confirmed the US will ‘use all the tools at our disposal to hold Georgia accountable for those steps, including rolling out new sanctions’, but claimed ‘you’ll have to wait until we announce’ who will be targeted.

Biblusi New Year Festival cancelled

Biblusi Group, the biggest bookseller in Georgia and part of the country’s biggest printing house Palitra Holding, has cancelled its New Year Festival due to ‘current events in the country’.

‘Although we have been preparing for this event all year, we consider it inappropriate to hold a ceremonial event in the current situation’, the company wrote on Facebook.

The festival was scheduled to take place 7-10 December at Expo Georgia. 

Mtavari Arkhi: Gharibashvili reportedly beaten up

Opposition aligned TV channel Mtavari Arkhi has reported that former Prime Minister and now chair of ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Gharibashvili ‘was taken to an American Hospital with multiple injuries’, citing their ‘reliable source’.

‘There are reports of a physical altercation within the party. A reliable source from the clinic confirmed the information to the Mtavari Arkhi’, the media outlet wrote. 

Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former chair of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili’s co-investment fund, also announced yesterday on the Mtavari Arkhi TV channel about Garibashvili’s alleged visit to the traumatology department in the clinic.

Teachers hold demonstration in Chkhorotsku 

Several teachers in Chkhorotsku in western Georgia have protested against the government’s EU u-turn, condemned violence against demonstrators, and demanded release of detainees and new elections.

Kaladze: reorganisation at Tbilisi City Hall not related to political situation in Georgia

The General Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream and Mayor of Tbilisi Kakha Kaladze has stated at a Tbilisi City Hall meeting that the planned reorganisation he announced earlier was not related to the ongoing political processes in the country.

‘We have heard many incorrect assessments in a political context. If a person takes and looks at the date when the reorganisation was announced, they will clearly see that this has nothing to do with the processes that have been taking place in recent days. The reorganisation was announced much earlier’, Publika reported, citing Kaladze’s speech.

On 1 December, Kaladze threatened to ‘transfer’ Tbilisi City Hall staff for opposing Georgian Dream’s suspension of EU accession. 

‘This is understandable to me. Last week, we announced a reorganisation at the City Hall. It’s good, it’s self-lustration. Everyone has their own path. These people are choosing this path, it’s up to them […] Transfers are planned’, Kaladze said. 

‘May God bless everyone on their own path’.

Batumi University dean and four students charged with ‘aggravated violence’

According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, five people have been charged with ‘aggravated violence’ in Batumi. The Interior Ministry’s investigation claimed that on 3 December, ‘in the administrative building of a university in Batumi, the dean and students of the same university beat two people in a group’. 

Law enforcement officers arrested the accused on 9 December. All five people were charged with the Criminal Code of Georgia for violence committed by a group against two or more people, which carries a possible sentence of up to two years imprisonment.

According to local media Batumelebi, Mamuka Jorbenadze, professor and dean of one of the faculties at Batumi Art Teaching University, has been an active participant in the ongoing protests in Batumi and was actively involved in organising the university strike. 

Batumelebi also reported that according to Jorbenadze’s lawyer, Davit Japaridze, the professor and his students were arrested on political grounds.

Swedish MP and PACE member visits Georgia

Gustaf Göthberg, a Swedish MP and member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, has arrived in Georgia to show his support for the Georgian people against the ‘unacceptable’ violent crackdown by Georgian Dream. 

Just arrived in Tbilisi to show support for the Georgian people, its European aspirations and the peaceful protests against the authoritarian regime. GD violent crackdown is unacceptable.

Georgia is Europe and Europe is Georgia. No oligarch can change this essential fact. 🇪🇺🇬🇪

— Gustaf Göthberg (@gustafgothberg) December 11, 2024

Gakharia: more than 100 MIA employees want to quit

Former Prime Minster and now leader of opposition party For Georgia Giorgi Gakharia told TV Pirveli yesterday that more than 100 employees of the Interior Ministry wanted to quit their jobs but ‘[the Internal Affairs Minister, Vakhtang] Gomelauri’s agency is not accepting  it’.

Czech President calls Zourabichvili

Czech President Petr Pavel had a phone conversation with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili  yesterday. After their meeting, he posted on X calling the ‘violence against protesters, journalists, and representatives of the political opposition in Tbilisi and other cities is unacceptable’, and gave his full support to the Georgian people. 

I have just spoken with the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili. The violence against protesters, journalists, and representatives of the political opposition in Tbilisi and other cities is unacceptable. I admire the courage of the Georgian people, who refuse to give up their… pic.twitter.com/lAPm1DINrH

— Petr Pavel (@prezidentpavel) December 10, 2024

Christmas Market strike

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has posted on X that around 100 small enterprises decided to decline participation in Tbilisi’s Christmas Market, which usually takes place in front of Orbeliani Palace, the presidential seat. 

US Senator urges Trump administration to maintain current US policy toward Georgia

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen has spoken with Marco Rubio, nominated by US President-elect Donald Trump for Secretary of State, about ‘the importance of maintaining current US policy toward Georgia’.

Today I met with @SenMarcoRubio, nominee to be the next Secretary of State, to discuss the global challenges facing our nation, including support for Ukraine and combatting China’s malign influence. I look forward to discussing these issues further in his confirmation hearing. pic.twitter.com/OrpIcEVm4h

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) December 10, 2024

Georgian MP calls for a ban on lasers at demonstrations

Archil Gorduladze, a member of the parliamentary majority, appealed to the ruling Georgian Dream party to ban the use of lasers at demonstrations. Gorduladze voiced the relevant initiative at a session of the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, IPN reported.

According to him, protesters often shine lasers at law enforcement officers and surveillance cameras, which, according to him, is a hindering factor for the police.

Key events from yesterday:

• President Salome Zourabichvili awarded OC Media’s journalist and co-director Mariam Nikuradze with the Medal of Civil Dedication for her ‘exemplary civil dedication, outstanding civic responsibility, and personal bravery’.
• The Georgian Parliament terminated the parliamentary powers of Bidzina Ivanishvili, honorary chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Gharibashvili, the party’s chair, and Mikheil Kavelashvili, who has been nominated for the post of president of Georgia, among others, in order for them to take other political positions.
• A EU External Action spokesperson stated that the EU will consider additional measures at the upcoming Foreign Affairs Council on 16 December.
• The State Security Service of Georgia stated that according to their information, the ‘organisers of destructive and criminal actions’ are planning to prevent the Georgian presidential election process from taking place on 14 December.
• Hungary pledged to block EU sanctions targeting Georgian government officials.