OC Media co-director Mariam Nikuradze fined twice for ‘road blocking’ while covering rallies

Editor’s note: this article has been updated to include information about Mariam Nikuradze’s second fine.

The police have fined OC Media co-founder Mariam Nikuradze twice, for a total of ₾10,000 ($3,600) for ‘blocking the road’ during two different demonstrations she was covering as a photographer and journalist. The police informed her of this by phone on Wednesday.

Over the last couple of months, numerous fines have been issued against anti-government demonstrators based on the same charge, with some individuals being repeatedly fined multiple times. In addition to protesters, the police have also penalised several journalists.

According to the police, Nikuradze ‘blocked the road’ on 11 and 15 March, during the daily protests near the Georgian Parliament building in Tbilisi. However, Nikuradze, who has actively covered protests on the ground, was performing her professional duties those days, filming the demonstrations.

Amid the ongoing rallies, Nikuradze, like many members of the press, has been targeted by Georgian police several times.

On 28 November, she was knocked from a ledge by a water cannon, injuring her leg. Her camera was also destroyed. The incident appeared to have been deliberate, with police aiming the water stream away from the protesters and towards Nikuradze and other journalists who were filming.

On the night of 1–2 December, riot police attempted to detain Nikuradze as she filmed them making violent arrests. After another officer stated that she was a woman, the arresting officer threw her against a wall, damaging a second camera.

Heavy fines

Recently, hefty fines have become a financial pressure lever in the hands of the state against demonstrators.

At the end of last year, amendments were made to the Administrative Code, increasing fines for road blocking from ₾500 ($180) to ₾5,000 ($1,800).

According to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), from November 2024 until 18 March 2025, the total amount of fines imposed on protesters reached ₾2 million ($720,000).

Civil society organisations have repeatedly emphasised that the state actively uses surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology in order to identify and fine demonstrators, raising concerns about the legality of this process. On 12 March, the Personal Data Protection Service, a government agency, announced that it had started examining the issue.

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Besides Nikuradze, the police previously fined RFE/RL journalist Gela Bochikashvili for ‘road blocking’ while covering a protest. Around the same time, a court also fined Euronews journalist Davit Kekenadze. Several other media representatives have also faced similar charges.

The Media Advocacy Coalition, a local organisation focused  on media issues and defending media rights in Georgia, stated that the fines are a deliberate form of pressure aimed at intimidating independent journalists.

Coalition representative Ilona Diasamidze told OC Media that after appeals and the resubmission of documents confirming their press status, the police canceled fines for many of the journalists who had been penalised, though not in all cases. Bochikashvili told OC Media his fine remains in effect, and the appeal process has been extended from one to three months.

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Following the government’s announcement about the suspension of Georgia’s EU membership bid on 28 November, Georgians across the country have continued to hold daily protests, going on more than 100 days.

Human rights activists in Georgia have suggested that more than 400 demonstrators may have been detained during November and December alone — a large number of whom claim that they were subjected to physical or psychological abuse by law enforcement officers.

According to the Media Advocacy Coalition, since 28 November, there have been over a hundred incidents in which media representatives were attacked, threatened, had their equipment damaged, or were unlawfully obstructed while carrying out their professional duties.

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The Interior Ministry charged Keshelashvili with petty hooliganism and disobedience to the police at the same protest where he was severely beaten up.

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