“When he came close to me, I felt it and raised my head, he spat in my face. Then he told his employees not to give me water and not to take me to the toilet. I never imagined that I would say this… I would publicly repeat how they say that I should pee myself and non be taken to the bathroom. I really want you to imagine this clearly. This person was the so-called victim, Irakli Dgebuadze. After that, his employees continued the humiliation, but in a different form, handcuffed me, and tied me up behind my back.”
This is an excerpt from Mzia Amaghlobeli’s final statement in court. She recalled in detail the night of her arrest and said that she was surrounded by masked men, and as a result of strong pushes and blows from the back, she fell to the asphalt, after which they trampled her. Mzia Amaghlobeli noted that after slapping Dgebuadze, she was sitting in the police station, almost in a state of shock, having been kicked a few minutes earlier, when a man burst into the room with noise and swearing and was moving towards her, but those present stopped him and prevented him from physically attacking her.
“Irakli [one of the police officers participating in the search] told me that if I turned my head again, he would rape me. He systematically emphasized that he would rape me, threatened me… He played submissive games, that if you don’t do this, if you don’t give me the phone password, the keys, I will do this — that was his response. […] His actions were not only verbal, but he also started to touch me, to make his threat tangible, he started to untie his belt, saying banal words like “I will punish you.”
This is an excerpt from Anastasia Zinovkina’s testimony. On August 14, in Tbilisi City Court, she recalled the episode of her arrest and the planting of drugs.
Two Russian citizens, Anastasia Zinovkina and Artem Gribul, were arrested by the criminal police on December 17, in parallel with the protests in Tbilisi. Zinovkina and Gribul are accused of purchasing and storing drugs. They have pleaded not guilty and say that the police planted drugs on them, and link their arrest to their participation in the protests. Anastasia spoke at the very first trial about the sexual harassment and sexual threats against her by the police.
“They arrested me in like a terrorist. I don’t know what kind of form this is. Is it the accepted form, is this how accused persons are generally taken away? In a fight, in a civil manner, suddenly snatching my phone, not informing me of my rights, not giving me the opportunity to call a lawyer? When they took me to the police station, I begged them to give me the right to call my child or my lawyer, first of all, so that the child wouldn’t be nervous.”
This quote belongs to Nino Datashvili, a teacher and activist. She recalled the episode of her arrest during her trial on August 7.
Nino said that during the process of recruitment and detention, she was stressed, treated like an object and not a person. For Nino, those few hours were humiliating and difficult. She says that they had a cynical attitude towards her, they also stripped her naked, made her sign documents without a lawyer, and did not allow her to call her child.
Cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, violence against citizens and journalists, unjustified and arbitrary detentions, reports of torture, restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, restrictive laws – in parallel with the continuous protests, the unfavorable and problematic human rights situation in Georgia is discussed in a number of international reports, including a document published by the United States Department of State on August 12.
In this article, we will focus on various episodes of attacks specifically on women, which have become more frequent on the street, in the hallway, at home, in court, and in various other spaces, in parallel with the continuous protests.
Violence in Court
The investigation into Nino Datashvili’s case is underway under Article 353, Section 3 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. She is accused of violence against a public servant and court bailiffs while performing their official duties, which carries a penalty of 4 to 7 years in prison.
On June 9, bailiffs of the Tbilisi City Court forcibly evicted Nino from the building. A video of the incident has been shared on social media, but the bailiffs have not yet responded to the violence.
Violent behavior by bailiffs in the courthouse intensified in parallel with the announcement of verdicts for political prisoners. In addition to videos circulated by the media, numerous citizens also wrote on social media about physical violence by court bailiffs.
“As a result of physical violence and insults by the police officers, I have about 30 bruises (hemorrhages) on my body,” wrote Natia Chikovani, a participant in the continuous protest, on Facebook on June 14, and also published photo and video footage. Multiple bluish-purple hematomas in various places on the body are also described in the medical certificate that Natia obtained at the Mediclub.
On June 12, Natia arrived at the courthouse at half past three. Judge Nino Gulustashvili was supposed to announce her decision in the case of political prisoner Mate Devidze. Natia was unable to enter the courtroom. She was among the citizens whom the court bailiffs were actively trying to expel.
“We couldn’t even get to the hall, there was such a noise. You couldn’t even understand what these bailiffs wanted from us in this mess. They just started elbowing everyone, shoving them, and pushing them in a very aggressive and wild manner. They threw women down — someone was on the windowsill, someone was sitting, someone was sitting on a chair. They were just pushing and shouting at us to get out. The first wave of pushing lasted 3-4 minutes, during which numerous bailiffs physically assaulted numerous women and men, and verbally abused them, without them explaining anything,” Natia recalls to Aprili Media.
“Why are you throwing us out of the court building? On what basis, what law, what article? What is happening at all?!” — Natia asked the bailiffs, but there was no answer. After the first episode of violence, she sat on the floor in the court lobby, near the entrance door, with several citizens. She felt weak and wanted to regain her strength. She recalls that someone even gave her a sedative, but they didn’t stay like that for long. Several bailiffs came to them and told them to leave the building. She tells us that in the end, the bailiffs first cornered her, and then forcibly expelled her from the building.
“I was wearing platform shoes, and I slipped a lot in this mess. I probably fell 5 times, and after the last fall I lost my shoe. There were bailiffs all around, in a circle, and I was in the middle, imagine, I’m lying there with one shoe […] I also dropped my phone, I had lost my bag before and couldn’t find it, I lost a friend there. I begged them to give me a second, let me get up, put my shoes on, pick up the phone and talk to them again. Of course, they didn’t let me do that — the bailiff grabbed my arm and by force, this is called “dragging,” ten or more bailiffs managed to throw me out.”
Natia found the police mobilized outside, at the entrance to the courthouse. She recalls that they were not there before she entered the courthouse. Someone handed her shoe to her as she walked outside.
“I was telling the first police officer I looked at, did you see what happened, they didn’t even put my shoe on, they just threw me out like that. As I was saying this sentence, someone hit me with both hands on my chest with all their strength and threw me backwards […] I fell to my knees on the stone surface. I’m glad I was able to put my hand down first, so I didn’t hit my head, surprised and I was tearing up from the bitterness, the insult, everything, and I was looking at these police officers like, what are you doing now, you’re just standing here. I couldn’t even imagine that they could not react to this.”
She was physically assaulted and tens of police officers watched the violence, the patrol did not come when called — this is how Natia sums up this day. She says that she called the patrol three times, but it did not come even once. The next day, she underwent a medical examination, described her injuries. Together with her lawyer, she also applied to the Special Investigation Service, where she was questioned on June 16. Two weeks ago, she was also questioned at the prosecutor’s office, because these two agencies were merged. There, she was told that she is not alone and that others are also suing the bailiffs. The investigation is underway under Part 2 of Article 333 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which implies abuse of official authority.
Natia has been an active participant in protests since March 2023. According to her observations, at first the police forces acted with restraint against women, but she believes that this was obedience at the level of orders, not personal restraint on the part of the police officers.
She recalls the episode of the Tbilisi Mall protest in February and says that for the first time she felt most acutely that the green light was on for violence against women.
“Violence against women is often followed by our vilification. They have to justify violence against women with something, and then we are either “drug addicts,” or “easy,” or “National Movement supporters,” or all of them. With these epithets, these labels, they try to devalue women and thus justify themselves in the eyes of voters why they have also violated women.”
Natia cites female political prisoners as another example of changing attitudes towards women. Along with Mzia Amaghlobeli and Nino Datashvili, she also mentions women who are administratively detained.
“They always avoided sending women to prison under administrative law and for the most part, in fact, they always limited themselves to fines. However, now it is very easy to send women to prison under administrative law […] We are no longer protected by anyone, they can invent anything and send us to prison.”
Administrative Detention
Activist Keta Daudishvili was sentenced to two days in prison on July 21 for insulting the head of the bailiff’s office, Davit Matiashvili.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs requested a fine for Daudishvili, but Judge Manuchar Tsatsua sentenced him to 2 days in prison,” Keta’s lawyer told Publika.
Activist Albi Kordzaia was sentenced to administrative detention twice within a month. On July 8, she was sentenced to 5 days of administrative detention for insulting police officer Bidzina Zhamerashvili. And on June 4, she was sentenced to 5 days of administrative detention for being near Tea Tsulukiani’s house and insulting her.
Based on the appeal of Georgian Dream MP Mariam Lashkhi, on May 30, students and activists Tatia Apriamashvili and Lika Lortkipanidze were sentenced to 12 days of administrative detention.
“No to Russian slavery,” “Down with Russian slaves,” “Freedom to the regime’s prisoners,” — these were the words activists addressed to Mariam Lashkhi, who was in one of the cafes with her companions and her young child two weeks earlier.
According to the Center for Social Justice, imposing the most severe sanction – imprisonment – on young people and women aims to provide them with exemplary and demonstrative punishment. This, in turn, serves to criminalize protest.
The provision on the basis of which the activists were sentenced to imprisonment emerged as a result of accelerated amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses introduced in February 2025 and provides for administrative liability for insulting, cursing, or otherwise insulting a state or political official.
“The establishment of such a practice by the justice system is a legalization of censorship, which ultimately serves to intimidate activists and suppress protests,” the Social Justice Center said in a statement.
Ambush and Attack in the Hallway
“It’s been three months and none of us have been summoned for questioning […] I have no information about the progress of the case, and presumably no investigation is underway,” — the person who ambushed Nutsa Makharadze, Keti Jananashvili, and Salome Sarishvili at the entrance of their apartment building and sprayed pepper spray and brilliant green (so-called Zelyonka) as they were entering the elevator has not yet been arrested. The girls received first-degree burns to their faces, and one of them suffered a corneal injury.
Nutsa, Keti and Salome were returning home from a rally on Rustaveli Avenue on the night of May 5 when this incident occurred, although they had spotted the suspicious individuals several times before.
“About two weeks ago, a surveillance camera installed on the perimeter of Keti Jananashvili’s house recorded suspicious people. Suspicious because the footage shows them damaging the tires of Keti’s brother’s car. Keti’s and her brother’s cars have the same model, and they probably confused which one was Keti’s, so, it was aimed at Keti […] The very next day, we saw two young men near my house, one of whom was definitely visible in that video. We saw them during the day, then we went to Rustaveli Avenue, and when we returned to my house, the same people were waiting for us in a car.
We already have a keen eye and we immediately recognize the so-called Titushki, we can recognize them […] A few days later, when we were returning home from Rustaveli, we again met a young man in a mask holding a bottle of cold tea in my building. We took the elevator and he followed us, went up to the top floor. We also considered this guy suspicious and when he was going down, we also followed him. Then he ran away,” Nutsa Makharadze tells us.
This boy ran, but three days later, on May 5, the person they met at the elevator door was also carrying a bottle of tea — this time, the bottle was filled with diamond green. The bottle, as evidence, was left at the elevator door for several hours. Nutsa tells us that a police representative was guarding the bottle, but at some point this evidence disappeared from the scene and then returned.
Nutsa, Keti and Salome only called an ambulance because they felt unwell. They deliberately did not call the police, says Nutsa. However, since the fact of the attack was recorded in 112, the ambulance was automatically followed by a patrol crew.
“There is chaos, surveillance, ambushes, attacks, intimidation, terror, impunity for criminals after attacks, etc. throughout the country. What do I associate it with? I associate it with active participation in the protest and openly stating my position as a citizen.”
According to Nutsa, ordinary citizens who actively participate in the protests are even more dangerous to the regime, because the propaganda machine cannot connect these people to the interests of a specific party or others. Accordingly, they are being fought against in extreme forms, as in Russia and Belarus.
“The first comparison of Salome’s green-painted face was with Navalny. It is clear that Navalny’s figure is a completely different matter altogether, and we are ordinary citizens, but the method is the same when we talk about Russian methods. In both cases, the method is the same, with which the regime acts against everyone in the same way.”
Nutsa tells us that this attack was not her first. Every aggression and similar incident convinces her that she is doing something right and becomes more capable of fighting. The fact that there are only women on the front lines makes it even stronger.
“I want to encourage everyone and tell everyone who hopes to scare women and extinguish this charge that they are very wrong and have been very wrong. They will definitely lose to women.”
The women’s rights organization Sapari responded to the attack on Nutsa and her friends and expressed solidarity with them.
“We see that the regime has been trying for a long time to silence and intimidate female activists through various methods, but to no avail. This protest has a female voice and we women cannot be silenced!”, the women’s rights organization Sapari noted in a statement about the attack.
From Insults to Violence — Use of Gender-based Violence Against Female Protesters
Amnesty International has prepared a report on the increasing cases of violence against female protesters in Georgia. The organization published a document in May, which describes various episodes of violence by police forces.
Insulting and sexist phrases, swearing, sexual harassment, physical assault, threats of rape, house searches, forced undressing in the detention center by the police forces near Tbilisi Mall – in addition to a general assessment, the report also discusses specific cases, including the arrest of Mzia Amaghlobeli.
“Mzia Amaghlobeli later told her lawyer that during her arrest, the Batumi police chief spat in her face and attempted physical violence, but his colleagues restrained him. He subjected her to sexist, verbal abuse, and humiliation. Video footage of the police officer’s abusive words during her arrest confirms Amaghlobeli’s allegations. She was also denied access to drinking water and a toilet. Amaghlobeli was also denied a medical examination and treatment for the injuries she sustained during her arrest.”
The arrest of Elene Khoshtaria on March 28, the forced undressing and degrading treatment, the arrest of Nutsa Makharadze, the episode of the search of Nancy Woland’s house, Natia Dzidziguri’s experience of sexual harassment when she was forced to ride with her hands tied and on her knees in a police car – these are the cases of persecution and harassment of women by the system and police forces that are summarized in the report.
The human rights organization’s main recommendation is to conduct immediate, effective, impartial, and independent investigations into all allegations of verbal abuse, threats, physical, sexual, and other forms of violence against women, as well as discrimination by the police. However, as months pass, the number of cases of violence increases, and the appropriate response to the facts continues to be delayed.
► Read articles from Aprili Media on the same topic:
“It Is Very Humiliating and Offensive,” — Stripping as a Part of Repressive Politics