Author’s Note
This article is a follow-up to my previous piece, “Georgian Dream vs Georgia’s European Dream”, published shortly after the protests began.
It has now been 468 consecutive days of uninterrupted protest. The first demonstrations followed the parliamentary elections in November 2025. Many Georgians, questioning the integrity of the vote and the political course that followed it, took to the streets. They were protesting a deliberate detour from the country’s long-declared path toward European integration. The protests became not only a domestic struggle but also a test of the European Union’s willingness to respond to backsliding in a candidate country. I felt it was necessary to update Euroculturer’s readers on how dramatically the situation has deteriorated and to return to a single central question: what is it that allows Georgians to keep standing, every single day, under sustained repression?
While working on this piece, I came across an article titled “Every Right That Georgians Lost in 2025.” Even the title feels tragic, let alone the content. In what follows, I briefly trace how Georgia moved from a flawed democracy to a consolidated autocracy in less than a year, before returning to the question posed above.
The structure of this article follows some of the core pillars of authoritarian rule.
1. Suppression of Civil Liberties
Assembly and Demonstration
Protesting in front of the parliament building was first declared illegal, justified by the alleged unlawful obstruction of traffic. The fine was set at 5,000 GEL, more than 1,500 euros.
This immediately affected the protests. In a country where the average monthly salary is under 500 euros, most people simply cannot afford to pay such fines repeatedly. Yet the protests did not stop.
The response escalated. Demonstrators now face up to 15 days of administrative detention, not only for standing on the roadway but even for gathering on the sidewalk. Repeated violations are criminalized, carrying prison sentences of up to one year.
Freedom of Expression
A new article was added to the Administrative Code criminalizing “insulting” a public servant or political office holder in connection with their official activities. The penalty can reach 4,000 GEL in fines or up to 45 days of administrative detention. The Tbilisi City Court has since fined dozens of citizens for allegedly insulting members of Georgian Dream, police officers, and other regime representatives. The words deemed offensive included terms such as “slave [of the regime]” and similar expressions. While many democratic systems maintain defamation or insult laws, they are typically limited in scope and rarely carry custodial penalties. In the Georgian case, however, the provision is broadly defined and applied primarily against activists and political critics. By allowing administrative detention for speech directed at public officials, the law shifts its function from protecting individual reputation to shielding political authorities from public scrutiny. It turns into a tool of repression.
A company that carries out public political activity unrelated to its primary business could face an administrative fine of around 20,000 GEL. Upon repeat violations, criminal penalties include fines, community service, or imprisonment of up to three years.
And fresh out of the oven, public actions aimed at creating the perception that Georgia’s government or constitutional bodies are illegitimate have been criminalized. The offence is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Bonus: The Story of How Fireworks Got Prohibited
After years of ignoring safety, environmental, and other concerns, fireworks suddenly became a problem once protesters started using them. And voila! The import, export, production, and sale of pyrotechnics without a license were promptly banned.
2. Control of Media and Information
Under newly adopted media laws, broadcasters are prohibited from receiving any direct or indirect foreign funding.
Since April, receiving a grant without prior government approval has been made illegal. The government is also granted access to any documentation it deems necessary to review grant agreements. Accepting a so-called “prohibited grant” results in a fine equal to double the amount of the grant itself. The logic of the legislation resembles measures introduced in Russia over the past decade, where organizations receiving foreign support and engaging in public activity have been labeled “foreign agents” and subjected to extensive state control and sanctions. Human Rights Watch describes “foreign agent” legislation as part of an authoritarian playbook: a legal mechanism used to stigmatize independent civil society and media as foreign-controlled actors while subjecting them to heavy monitoring and restrictions.
3. Concentration of Power and the Elimination of Political Pluralism
For context, Georgian Dream is now the only party represented in parliament and therefore drafts and adopts these laws without opposition.
Political parties and individuals with declared electoral ambitions are now barred from organizing lectures, seminars, or similar public events with support from foreign organizations.
The GD has also simplified the procedure for dissolving political parties. In October, a new provision was added allowing the Constitutional Court to ban any party whose stated goals, activities, or leadership “essentially replicate” those of a previously banned party.
Finally, Georgian citizens living abroad will no longer be allowed to vote in their countries of residence. Keep in mind that only 13 percent of the Georgian diaspora voted for Georgian Dream in 2024.
There is no single answer to the question of what keeps the protest alive. In the absence of clear leadership, people carry different ideas and different visions for the future, but they share a common ground for protest.
What keeps Georgians standing is not optimism or faith in a quick victory. It is the refusal to accept a country where silence is rewarded, and dignity is punished. After more than a year of repression, standing has become less a choice than a moral position. It reflects a deeper sense of responsibility and identity shaped by past struggles and lived experience.
Sitting down would mean consenting to what has already been done. Silence would mean becoming complicit in the erosion of the country’s dignity and history. At this point, there is no ordinary life left to return to.
Here they stand. They can do no other.
“ Between doing nothing and standing at a protest, I choose the latter. No matter how pointless it may seem, after standing here for so long, I’m not about to turn around and go home now.” – quote from a protester
Header Source: Sora Shimazaki on Pexels https://www.pexels.com/photo/judge-signing-on-the-papers-6077447/
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