This holiday season, Tbilisi presents itself as “a city full of kindness,” illuminated by lavish festive decorations.
Yet more than a hundred political prisoners – a number that continues to grow – are spending the holidays behind bars, unable to be with their loved ones, with many suffering from deteriorating health.
Among them, two political prisoners, widely remembered for carrying Georgian and EU flags at pro-European protests, have been on prolonged hunger strikes for weeks.
On December 26, Zura Menteshashvili, a 61-year-old protest participant prosecuted under criminal law for allegedly blocking a road during a rally in Tbilisi and facing up to one year in prison, is marking the 56th day of his hunger strike. Meanwhile, Zurab Chavchanidze, 59, who was jailed over the October 4 protests and faces up to six years in prison, has entered the 41st day of his hunger strike.
Judge Valerian Bugianishvili ordered that Menteshashvili remain in pre-trial detention, citing the prosecutor’s claim that there is a “risk of committing a new crime.” Menteshashvili has been in custody for nearly two months and has been on hunger strike since the day of his arrest.
Zurab Menteshashvili
“What is the need for such severity – just for standing on Rustaveli Avenue?” Menteshashvili said in court, addressing the prosecutor. “I am a peaceful protester. I am glad to stand with the people, and this has apparently become a criminal offense. Please, explain it to me,” he said, turning to the judge, “what is so terrible about this that I am supposedly a criminal?”
Menteshashvili is the first and so far the only demonstrator to be prosecuted under Georgian Dream’s new and even more repressive legislation, facing criminal charges on the pretext of blocking a road.
Zurab Chavchanidze, known as the “flag bearer of Batumi’s pro-European protest”, was arrested on October 8 in connection with the October 4 demonstrations, along with dozens of others. He has been charged under Article 19–222(2)(a) of the Criminal Code – attempted seizure of a strategic or particularly important facility by a group – and Article 225(2), which concerns participation in group violence. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to six years in prison. According to his lawyer, the case against Chavchanidze relies on a single video clip showing him holding a flag.
Zurab Chavchanidze – Tbilisi, October 4, 2025
“I saw Zura yesterday – he is severely physically weakened,” lawyer Nino Lominadze told Batumelebi on December 24. “The purpose of my hunger strike is for everyone to see the truth and to wake up to where we are heading,” she quoted him as saying. “He told me he is being monitored, his health is checked, and he has a doctor. The guards treat him well, and they even brought him a television.”
“He hasn’t called for five days,” said Chavchanidze’s wife, Marina Gorjeladze, on December 24. “The last time we spoke, he told me he goes outside for half an hour every day, consumes only liquids, does not eat at all, and asked me not to worry – saying a doctor checks on him regularly and that he is in a cell with others who are also on hunger strike.”
Addressing the court at a hearing at Tbilisi City Court on December 9, Chavchanidze said:
“I am from Sukhumi, and fifteen brave men from Sukhumi died fighting for Georgia, so that we could all live in a good country. I will speak with facts: what does Russian rule mean? Nearly a million Georgians were killed; every Russian ruler dreams of ‘Georgia without Georgians.’
“Regardless of who we are or whom we support, a targeted process is underway – the erasure, extinction, or assimilation of Georgia. Many people think, ‘I’m fine, my life is in order,’ but danger threatens us all.
“I have opposed violence my entire life. ‘God is love – love one another’ is written on a large wall in my home. Kindness, love, honesty, and respect for the law guide me.
“An officer from the State Security Service once came to my home and told me: ‘We know everything about you – you are a good man.’ My only message is kindness and love. I even love my sworn enemy – and if I love, I love sincerely. This is the echo of the Georgian soul. I have nothing but honesty and love.”
