Giorgi Akhobadze, a doctor and anti-government activist, has been sentenced to 25 days of administrative detention after Tbilisi City Court Judge Manuchar Tsatsua reportedly found him guilty of several administrative offenses stemming from allegedly insulting public and police officials, including on social media.
Several media outlets reported that the proceedings consolidated a series of administrative cases, including Facebook posts where Akhobadze allegedly insulted Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, GD lawmaker Levan Makhashvili, and police officer Grigol Kachkachishvili.
Kachkachishvili, an investigator, was involved in the earlier criminal case against Akhobadze, who spent eight months in pre-trial custody on serious drug charges. Akhobadze’s verdict in August 2025 marked the first not-guilty verdict in a series of arrests and prosecutions that government critics linked with pro-EU protests that erupted in November 2024. Similar drug-related arrests sparked allegations that police may be planting drugs against government critics.
“F**k every police officer who plants drugs. I will repeat myself here again,” Akhobadze told TV Pirveli, reacting to the July 24 ruling, noting he had also used the phrase during an earlier phone conversation with Kachkachishvili while trying to recover the items confiscated when he was detained on drug charges.
The administrative detention follows another administrative case against Akhobadze earlier this month. On July 8, the Tbilisi City Court fined him GEL 3,000 (about USD 1,140) over a Facebook comment directed at Vato Shakarashvili, a member of the anti-EU and Georgian Dream-aligned group United Neutral Georgia. Akhobadze’s refusal to pay that fine allegedly contributed to a stricter penalty.
The ruling also came two days after a similar ruling sentencing Formula TV journalist Vakho Sanaia to two weeks’ detention over a Facebook post about Georgian Dream MPs, a decision that drew widespread condemnation, including from foreign officials and international human rights groups.
Expanding Crackdown
Akhobadze’s latest detention comes amid an expanding crackdown on social media posts deemed “insulting” toward public officials and figures.
Although a series of rulings over public “insults” had been delivered over the past year, with the ruling Georgian Dream party pledging last summer to proactively sue critics over social media “insults,” the crackdown intensified after the Interior Ministry’s Division for Combating Hate Speech started its work on June 1, 2026. The division’s stated goal is to proactively monitor what authorities describe as “hate speech” in public spaces, including on social media, and to submit administrative complaints to the courts.
Since its launch, the division has initiated dozens of administrative cases over social media posts and comments, resulting in fines ranging from GEL 1,500 to GEL 6,000. Hearings related to these cases have become a regular feature in courts across the country.
Most of the proceedings rely on Articles 166 (petty hooliganism) and 173 (insulting or disobeying a police officer) of Georgia’s Code of Administrative Offenses.
The division’s work has drawn criticism from opposition politicians and government critics, who argue that sanctions have been imposed even when the public officials allegedly “insulted” neither filed complaints nor were asked whether they considered the statements offensive. Critics have also pointed to the broad interpretation adopted by the courts, saying that findings of “insult” have extended beyond swearing, including to curses.
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