"I will not surrender to this regime. I will not play by their rules. I have declared a hunger strike. There is something greater than life itself - freedom," wrote Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli from her prison cell in Batumi. She was arrested in January at an anti-government protest and charged with assaulting a police officer. The journalist could face 4 to 7 years in prison.
Amaglobeli and her team of independent journalists have been covering the excessive force used by law enforcement agencies during anti-government protests in Georgia, which have been ongoing since October. People are unhappy with the results of the parliamentary elections, which they say were rigged, as well as with the decision of the government to freeze EU integration talks. Election observers have also found irregularities in the vote. The ruling Georgian Dream party, however, categorically denies the accusations. The opposition believes that they are gravitating towards Moscow, while a large percentage of Georgians want to be part of a United Europe.
"Today it is me. Tomorrow it could be anyone else who allows themselves to dream of a fair, democratic and European Georgia - untouched by Russian influence, free from repression. Fight while there is still time," the detained journalist also wrote.
"Our only weapon is the truth"
Tensions reached a critical point in Batumi in January, when ten people were arrested for putting up stickers reading "Georgia goes on strike". In a show of sympathy, Amaglobeli followed suit and was also detained, then released, only to be arrested again after slapping a police officer who had pinned her and her colleagues down. "It was a provocation. The officers were cursing us, humiliating us. One has to ask oneself: What did this officer do to provoke this reaction?", says her colleague Eter Turadze, who was also present at the incident.
Footage on social media shows local police chief Irakli Dgebuadze dragging Mzia Amaglobeli towards a police car while making sexually suggestive comments. The journalist's colleagues say Dgebuadze tried to lock himself in a room with the journalist to physically harm her, but was stopped. Amaglobeli was allegedly spat on in the face by officers and denied access to water and a toilet for several hours after her arrest. "I know that those we are fighting are very strong and ruthless. But our descent into authoritarianism is not yet complete. They must first kill the independent media. Our only weapon is the truth," says Turadze.
Brutal attack on opposition leader
Opposition politicians are also under increasing pressure, including violence and threats. Last week, former Georgian Prime Minister and current opposition leader Giorgi Gakharia was brutally beaten at the "Sheraton" hotel in Batumi, after which he had to be hospitalized. The opposition accuses the government of ordering the attack. The authorities claim that Gakharia provoked the clash in the hotel lobby. The hotel managers have also been charged after they refused to show security camera footage.
The clashes in Georgia reached a new peak in November, when the opposition officially gave up its seat in parliament and accused the "Georgian Dream" party of falsifying the election results. The ruling party describes the opposition parties as "radicals" who want to "stage a revolution". "2025 will be key for our domestic politics. We must decisively deal a blow to the radicals in our country. Radicalism and liberal fascism in Georgia must end," said Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
"Freedom for the regime's prisoners"
Despite periodic clashes with the police, protesters continue to take to the streets every day and strike - especially in Batumi and the capital Tbilisi. They carry posters with the call "Freedom for the regime's prisoners".
In addition to demands to cancel the October elections, the opposition also wants all detained protesters to be released - those arrested since last spring. Then the authorities' desire to adopt a law on "foreign agents" in the Russian model, he brought people back to the streets.
Omar Okribelashvili, a 19-year-old activist who was detained during protests against the "foreign agents" law, was sentenced this week. The young man will spend 18 months behind bars for damaging temporary barriers erected outside parliament in May. When the judge pronounced the sentence, Okribelashvili's father looked at his son from afar and whispered: "I would give anything to be able to hug you now."