Georgian protesters face crippling fines in government crackdown

Every night since November, Nadim Khmaladze has joined thousands of fellow Georgians protesting their government’s decision to shelve European Union membership talks.

The 60-year-old rights activist was prepared for potential police violence but not for the financial punishment that followed.

Three months into the demonstrations, Khmaladze received a summons detailing 45,000 lari (approximately $16,000) in fines — more than 22 months of his salary — for briefly blocking traffic on Tbilisi’s central avenue.

“The government is using Russian-style methods to abolish freedom of assembly in Georgia,” Khmaladze told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He is not alone. Prominent writer Mikheil Tsikhelashvili, who recently returned from Portugal to oppose what he calls the ruling Georgian Dream Party’s “pro-Russian policies,” faces a $1,850 fine alongside his girlfriend.

“I took the case to court,” Tsikhelashvili said, though he expressed “little hope in Georgia’s justice system, which is fully controlled by the ruling party.” He described the penalties as “financial terror aimed at extinguishing popular anger.”

Protest movement evolves

The demonstrations began after disputed October parliamentary elections that opposition parties claimed were rigged in favor of the Georgian Dream. The movement gained momentum when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced on Nov. 28 that his cabinet would postpone EU membership talks until 2028.

This decision shocked many in Georgia, where more than 80% of the population supports joining the EU, according to polls. The country is an official candidate for membership in the 27-nation bloc, an aspiration enshrined in Georgia’s constitution.

Initially, authorities responded with tear gas, water cannons, and hundreds of arrests. Georgia’s ombudsman, Levan Ioseliani, and Amnesty International accused police of “torturing” detainees, allegations the government denies.

As demonstrations continued despite bitter winter conditions, the government’s tactics evolved.

Changing suppression tactics

“After bare violence proved ineffective, the government turned to intimidation — televised police raids on activists’ homes and anonymous threats over the phone,” said Salome Khvadagiani, director of the Liberty Institute rights group. “When that too failed to suppress the protest, the government moved to slowly strangle them — financially.”

In December, authorities increased fines for blocking roads tenfold to 5,000 laris ($1,850). The alternative punishment is 15 days of imprisonment.

According to the opposition party For Georgia, fines issued in January alone surpassed $6.5 million — a staggering sum in a country of four million people with an average monthly salary of approximately $740.

The interior ministry maintains it only issues fines “when the number of demonstrators doesn’t justify blocking the road” and when rallies can occur without disrupting traffic.

Surveillance expansion

To enforce these penalties, the government has reportedly expanded its surveillance capabilities. Rights groups note a significant increase in high-resolution cameras throughout Tbilisi streets, with authorities employing facial recognition technology to identify protesters.

The GYLA rights watchdog warned that widespread use of “facial recognition and remote biometric recognition technologies facilitates discriminatory targeted surveillance,” and “undermines fundamental rights.”

In 2021, Amnesty International and other rights organizations called for “an outright ban on uses of facial recognition and remote biometric recognition technologies that enable mass surveillance and discriminatory targeted surveillance.”

Adapting to pressure

Khvadagiani acknowledged that the “campaign of mass and disproportional financial sanction has caused protest turnout to dwindle significantly over the last month.”

However, demonstrators are “adapting to the situation,” by filing court complaints that have overwhelmed the judicial system, “significantly delaying the enforcement of financial sanctions or even making them unenforceable.”

For Khmaladze, who spent nearly two years fighting on Ukraine’s frontlines against Russian forces, the cause remains worth the risk.

“The government can’t scare us,” he said. “We are taking to the streets for Georgia’s democracy and will never back down.”