More than a dozen journalists, activists and opposition figures in Georgia have been summoned to court in recent days, accused of insulting members of the ruling Georgian Dream party on social media — a move critics say marks a chilling escalation in the government’s crackdown on dissent.
The court summonses follow a complaint filed by Georgian Dream and come under a controversial amendment passed in February that made “verbal insult, defamation, [or] offensive remarks” against public officials an administrative offense, punishable by fines of up to 4,000 laris (about $1,450) or up to 45 days in detention.
Several of the accused said they were alerted to upcoming hearings either by court officials or by seeing their names posted online. The summonses were issued just days after Georgian Dream lawmaker Irakli Kirtskhalia denounced “the dirtiest insults and offensive statements” circulating on social media and confirmed the party had filed a formal complaint.
Among those summoned is Vika Bukia, a journalist at the independent broadcaster TV Pirveli, who shared excerpts of a court document accusing her of calling Georgian Dream MP Mariam Lashkhi a “slave” in a Facebook post.
Bukia called the summons an attempt to “suppress criticism, including on social media,” telling OCCRP: “We are on the same path Russia has taken — and continues to take — where people are fined or imprisoned for public posts.”
Activist Giorgi Tumasyan also received a court date after calling Lashkhi a “traitor” and “Bolshevik” in a social media post. “This is my political opinion,” Tumasyan wrote in a public statement. “It is fully protected under freedom of expression. Come see for yourself what dictatorship looks like.”
Others named in the court filings include television hosts Vakho Sanaia and Eka Mishveladze, opposition politicians Elene Khoshtaria and Aleko Elisashvili, and activists Ana Subeliani and Mariam Geguchadze.
Sanaia, a journalist with Formula TV, told OCCRP that the court summonses are meant to “intimidate the public” and said he would not attend his hearing. “The court will make whatever decision Georgian Dream instructs it to,” he said.
Subeliani, also summoned, is accused of insulting MP Nino Tsilosani by calling her “scum” in a Facebook post. She described the case as an attempt to divert attention from the trial of a young protester accused of attacking police during last year’s mass demonstrations.
Georgia’s Young Lawyers’ Association, a local rights watchdog, denounced the government’s actions as a threat to free speech. In a statement, the group called the move “an unjustified restriction of freedom of expression.”
“Posts published on social media, as long as they do not contain threats that pose a real risk and are directed at politicians — who have a higher threshold of tolerance — are protected by freedom of expression,” the group wrote. “Any court interpretation that goes against this standard would set a precedent for mass censorship.”
