Vakho Sanaia, a journalist and anchor at opposition-leaning Formula TV, was sent to 14 days of administrative detention over a Facebook post concerning Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and MP Vladimer Bozhadze.
While several people had previously been detained over social media statements that courts found “insulting” toward public officials, Sanaia is the first known person to be placed in administrative detention following a complaint by the Interior Ministry’s “hate speech” division, which flagged his Facebook post.
Tbilisi City Court Judge Zviad Tsekvava announced the ruling on July 22, granting the Interior Ministry’s request for detention. Sanaia did not attend the hearing.
The journalist was previously fined GEL 6,000 (approximately USD 2,300) on July 10 by Judge Tornike Kochkiani in a separate but similar case brought by the same “hate speech” division over his Facebook posts concerning Papuashvili and Bozhadze.
Following the fine, Sanaia wrote, “I wrote a status saying, ‘Don’t call Papuashvili and Bozhadze d***s,’ and I was fined GEL 6,000 for it. Well, I don’t know then — I guess call them that.” The detention has been ordered over this post, as an MIA official told media that the request for a harsher penalty was filed because Sanaia “continued the unlawful conduct” after receiving the fine.
After the detention ruling was announced, Sanaia again wrote on Facebook, “For 14 days, don’t call Shalva [Papuashvili] and Lado [Bozhadze] d***s. When I get out, I’ll take care of that matter myself,” adding laughing emojis.
The Interior Ministry’s Division for Combating Hate Speech, established on June 1 to monitor “hate speech” in public spaces, including on social media, and file complaints with courts, often without a request from an individual who would be considered “insulted,” has been involved in dozens of cases resulting in fines ranging from GEL 1,500 to GEL 6,000 over social media posts and comments, with courts across the country hearing such cases on a near-daily basis.
The division primarily brings charges under Articles 166 (petty hooliganism) and 173 (insulting or disobeying a police officer) of Georgia’s Code of Administrative Offenses.
One earlier case also involved Sanaia, but this time as the person deemed “insulted.” On June 25, Judge Zviad Tsekvava fined citizen Zurab Osikmashvili GEL 2,000 for a Facebook comment targeting the journalist. However, Sanaia later said that he was not informed about the proceedings, calling the ruling “a fight against freedom of expression” and saying that “people cannot be fined for comments.”
The division’s early cases have raised concerns among government critics and opposition figures that people were fined for insulting them without hearing their opinions.
The type of speech that courts have deemed “insulting” has not been limited to swearing or offensive language. On July 21, Tbilisi City Court fined protester Tamar Giorgadze GEL 3,000 over a Facebook post in which she cursed Georgian Dream founder and honorary chairman, Bidzina Ivanishvili, and those close to him.
In a separate case, Judge Davit Makaradze fined exiled civic activist Nata Peradze GEL 3,000 after the “hate speech” division accused her of insulting Bera Ivanishvili, the son of Bidzina Ivanishvili, in a Facebook post.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, Georgian Dream State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies, said on July 17 that the unit had contributed to a decline in social media posts expressing “hate” and “contempt.”
“It has been significantly reduced, but our goal is for people not to accept insulting one another as normal and not to make it an established practice,” he said.
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