Film director Giorgi Tavartkiladze, who voluntarily went to the police and stated that he had blocked the road, was not detained.
According to his lawyer, Nika Simonishvili, Tavartkiladze was questioned at the police station.
“Director Giorgi Tavartkiladze went to the police station on his own and said: ‘I blocked the road – arrest me like my fellow protesters.’
He was asked to provide an explanation and wrote a statement saying he would voluntarily appear in court if needed. The police told him, ‘We are not planning to detain you now; we will contact you,’ and let him go.
People this fearless will bring down the system,” Simonishvili wrote.
On October 20, after attending the rally on Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi, Tavartkiladze went to the police station and declared that he had blocked the road just like those who had been detained for the same reason.
“A short while ago, I was on that roadway [on Rustaveli Avenue], blocking the road together with my fellow protesters. There is a reason for that – I believe that if we want to survive and truly call this a struggle, it must be an act of resistance. Today, resistance exists only on the roadway…
It’s my personal decision to come to this institution – which I can no longer call the police. It’s a self-proclaimed, illegitimate structure. I came here to tell them that, just as they arrested and imprisoned my friends and fellow fighters, they should jail me as well – because yesterday, the day before, and today, I also blocked that road. For some reason, they didn’t come for me, so now I’ve come to them,” Tavartkiladze said in a live interview with Formula TV before entering the police station.
On October 19, 14 people were arrested in connection with the October 18 rally, allegedly for “artificially blocking the road” and/or “covering their faces.” Most of them – nine individuals – were sentenced to detention the same day. Among them was Formula TV journalist and anchor Vakho Sanaia – ordered to 6 days of administrative detention.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that 13 more people had been identified and that legal proceedings were underway against them. The five people detained on October 20 are reportedly among those 13 individuals.
Another journalist of Formula TV, Keta Tsitskishvili has been sentenced to five days of administrative detention on charges of “blocking the road.” Tsitskishvili is a single mother – under administrative law, a single parent of a child under 12 should not be subjected to detention. However, the judge ruled to proceed with detention, noting that her child had turned 12 on October 3.
The Georgian Dream’s parliament tightened protest laws in an effort to end the daily demonstrations that began on November 28, 2024, after the party announced the postponement of Georgia’s EU bid.
Under the new regulations, face covering and blocking the road are no longer punishable by fines – they now result in immediate detention, while repeat participation can lead to criminal charges.
The amendments were rushed through and signed under an accelerated procedure.
Detentions are likely to continue as the protests do.
