Author of the Article: Liza Akhaladze
For more than two weeks, Rustaveli Avenue has been hosting protests non-stop, every day. Representatives of virtually every field are gathering near the parliament. The daily rallies differ somewhat from one another, but those gathered there are united by their desire and anger for a better future for the country.
In their conversation with Aprili Media, citizens discuss in detail the reasons that are stronger than the winter cold and fatigue and give them the strength to continue their protests. They especially emphasize the fact that they do not want to leave the country due to the government’s decisions and intend to fight here.
Mashiko Giorgobiani, 23, told us that the election was rigged, but that the outcome was not unexpected for her. She says that the initial shock and frustration turned into anger, and the country remains filled with anger — “angry, but still with love.”
Mashiko’s mother is an immigrant. The main reason she voted was her desire to see her mother soon — she doesn’t want her to have to emigrate, but rather wants her mother to return to the country.
Mashiko / Photo: Liza Akhaladze
“I think that I and most of my peers have a sense of belonging to this country. We want to have everything here that is elsewhere. Why shouldn’t we have it?! […] This is our Georgia, not theirs,” she tells us, adding that she deliberately doesn’t emigrate: “If it’s good, they should go themselves.”
While Mashiko is on Rustaveli Avenue, her grandmother is waiting at home, staying up all night until her granddaughter arrives.
“A few days ago, she baked some pies to take to the rally. In our family, pies are baked on special occasions.”
Against the backdrop of all this, it is difficult for Mashiko to think about whether to go to her mother, to emigrate. She considers it unfair that others are forced to leave the country because of the desire of specific people to maintain power.
It’s hard when you can’t feel your legs on Rustaveli Avenue, when you have to run at six in the morning [due to a raid] and you have no choice but to run.
Anna Batsikadze, 30, is also actively participating in the protests. She says that the desire to live in a better country was the main idea that kept her generation going in the cold and darkness.
“I am a representative of the generation that grew up in hunger, in cold, after the civil war. We studied by candlelight. I went through all this and survived to live in a better country,” she says.
Anna / Photo: Liza Akhaladze
That is why she stands on Rustaveli Street every day to create a good future for the country – a future where everyone will have equal rights and will be able to live with dignity and peace.
I’m not leaving so that others, for example, my friends, don’t leave either.
She has never thought about leaving the country, because she knows that she and her friends can create a community where people will not want to leave and, the opposite, will want to return and live in their own country.
Anna is convinced that if immigrants had a choice, they would choose to stay in the country now: “I consider it my duty to stand in their place, to make their voices heard.”
“I’m not going to leave this country and give in to the Russians,” says 25-year-old Zura Khomeriki. He considers it a privilege to be involved in the recent events and is proud to have been given the opportunity to join the fight for Europe’s future. According to Zura, the only way to stop the anti-Western course is through resistance. This is where he sees himself.
Zura / Photo: Liza Akhaladze
I believe that the efforts of every person, every individual, will not be in vain and we will be able to achieve what we want in this country: human freedom, the independence of the country, a dignified future, and the creation of a successful state.
“This country has had many problems, has gone through many storms, and has never given up. Independence and freedom have always been about individuals,” says Zura.
According to 27- year-old Mariam Samelashvili, she stands on Rustaveli Avenue so that the country carries European values, that the work of each person is appreciated, and that the elderly have access to medicines.
“I don’t want to have the old age that the older generation experienced. I don’t want my child to have the youth that I have. I’ve been standing here [on Rustaveli] for almost a year.”
Mariam / Photo: Liza Akhaladze
Mariam has a 5-year-old son on the autism spectrum. It pains her heart to think that if she moves to another country, her son might not be able to speak Georgian:
I would rather fight here so that my child can be a full member of society here than in another country.
As she says, she knows for sure that in another country she will not be as happy as she is here, despite the fact that she has to fight for her rights at rallies. She is not going to give up and says that even if only 10 people come out on Rustaveli Avenue, she will be the 11th.
“It’s difficult, but I have no other homeland,” she says at the end of the interview.
A month after the parliamentary elections, on November 28 of this year, Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the Georgian Dream will not put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028. According to him, they will also refuse any budget grants that Georgia receives from the European Union until then. At a special briefing, Kobakhidze accused European politicians of trying to organize a revolution in the country, in which, according to him, they were using their candidate status. Kobakhidze claims that organizations that receive funding from the EU were openly involved in this. According to him, this is the reason for the Georgian Dream’s decision.
Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement was followed by massive protests across the country. Rallies were held in cities and villages where similar demonstrations had never been held before. Georgian Dream’s decision was also met with protests in the public sector – civil servants issued a number of statements stating that they were committed to the European course. Georgian citizens in other countries also held rallies.
The party responded to the protest with force — police forces dispersed the demonstration for several days, physically assaulting citizens, confronting them with tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannons, which, according to human rights organizations , were laced with an unknown substance.
After the violent dispersal of the rallies, masked men chased citizens into entrances and offices, assaulted them, and detained them. In many cases, family members and lawyers learned the whereabouts of the detainees after several hours of searching. According to the latest data, a total of about 400 people have been detained — the majority under administrative law, and up to 40 under the Criminal Code.
Despite live broadcasts showing MIA representatives beating protesters and journalists, no police officers have been held accountable so far. It is also noteworthy that the majority of citizens speak of violence after arrest, and some of them speak of torture and inhumane treatment.
In addition, MIA representatives entered the homes of several citizens and conducted searches. Some people were abducted directly from the streets, leaving their relatives unable to contact them for several hours and unaware of their whereabouts. For example, pediatrician Konstantine Chakhunashvili’s car was found empty in Saburtalo, after which they began searching for the doctor and discovered a few hours later that he had been arrested. Researcher Vato Bzhalava was arrested for “disobeying the lawful request of the police” while walking his dog home, and according to his friend, the dog was left tied to a tree. Outdoor camera footage shows that Bzhalava does not resist them and calmly follows them. The court sentenced dozens of detainees to several days in prison , including minors, and fined some of them.
The police forces are particularly brutal towards journalists. Dozens of journalists were physically assaulted at rallies, prevented from performing their professional duties, and attempted to intimidate them. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics holds the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, personally responsible for the deliberate violence against media representatives and dozens of documented cases of illegal interference in their professional activities, and calls on him to return to the law. The Charter demands that violent police officers and their leaders be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
In addition to individuals in MIA uniforms, citizens and journalists present at the rallies were also physically assaulted by so-called “titushky”, including in front of the police, and footage confirms that they did nothing to protect peaceful citizens.
After that, Georgian Dream also restricted freedom of assembly and expression by law. In particular, it introduced amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, according to which citizens will be fined 2,000 GEL for wearing a face mask or any other means of covering their faces at a rally. It is worth highlighting the frequency with which the police uses tear gas or pepper spray against citizens. In addition, according to the amendments to the law, being present at a rally with a laser or pyrotechnics will be fined. Also, “preventive detention” was added to the grounds for detention — as the chairwoman of GYLA, Nona Kurdovanidze, explains, “that is, if a person has previously committed a violation of the law, the police may assume that they will commit another violation and detain them based on the assumption.
Citizen protests continue. In parallel, Georgian Dream has elected former football player Mikheil Kavelashvili as president, whom it plans to inaugurate at the end of December. The country’s current president, Salome Zurabishvili, calls the parliament, and therefore the president elected by the people there, illegitimate and says she will remain in office until new and fair elections are held.