The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) has issued a statement regarding yesterday’s confrontation on Melikishvili Avenue in Tbilisi, noting that there was a clear use of criminal methods and physical violence.
According to GYLA’s assessment, “Georgian Dream” continues to grossly violate human rights against peaceful protest. “On the evening of September 8, 2025, on Melikishvili Avenue, supporters of Georgian Dream physically assaulted peaceful demonstrators and media representatives. According to reports, supporters of the ruling party arrived near Hotel Georgia in several cars, armed with iron rods, and attacked the demonstrators. Video footage shows attackers approaching the gathered protesters from the side of Georgian Dream’s election headquarters on foot, and from the street side by vehicles. Numerous videos also clearly show how Georgian Dream supporters attacked peaceful protesters – not as part of a mutual clash or self-defense, but as a deliberate, violent assault on demonstrators. Journalists also became targets of violence, including Laszlo Mese, who was beaten and had his phone taken. He required emergency medical care, though, according to reports, an ambulance did not arrive in a timely manner.
Documented incidents include obstruction of journalistic work and the seizure/damage of equipment. For example, video footage shows clearly the phone being taken from Alexander Keshelashvili of Publika and from another Publika journalist, Keto Mikadze, who was also subjected to physical violence. Despite the fact that the perpetrators were easily identifiable, the attacker was not detained by police. According to Publika, after the incident they called patrol police multiple times, yet neither the officers present on site nor those summoned by Publika responded.
Even though violent physical and verbal attacks on demonstrators, including women and journalists, were carried out in the presence of police officers, the police failed to react effectively. Law enforcement did not take the necessary measures to stop the violent acts or to hold the perpetrators accountable. No attackers were detained at the scene, even though video analysis from public sources clearly shows that police could have stopped the violence and apprehended the perpetrators on the spot. In fact, in one video, a police officer is seen taking away a baton from an assailant who had just beaten a demonstrator, with the assailant telling the officer he was “one of them,” and the officer replying he would “put the baton in the car.” Disturbingly, instead of protecting peaceful citizens from violence, police were seen obstructing the work of journalists and verbally abusing them.
We remind the public that this is not the first time police representatives have failed to react effectively to attacks on peaceful demonstrators. Similar incidents occurred during the protests following the 2024 parliamentary elections and after the events of July 5–6, 2021.
On September 8 at 20:59, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement referring to the group violence against peaceful protesters as a “confrontation between citizens,” calling on demonstrators to “comply with lawful police orders and not allow artificial escalation of the situation.” Later, at 22:15, the Ministry announced that an investigation had been launched under Article 126¹, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, concerning “violence committed in a group.”
High-ranking officials of Georgian Dream also responded to the attack on peaceful demonstrators, and through their statements effectively expressed support for the perpetrators. Dimitri Samkharadze, in a Facebook post, essentially confirmed that the violence was an act of retaliatory revenge against the protesters. Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze also blamed the victims of the violence, even using sexist language in reference to female participants of the peaceful protest.
GYLA stresses that while a demonstration may anger or offend those who oppose the ideas it seeks to promote, participants must be able to hold demonstrations without fear of physical assault by opponents. During protests, the authorities are obliged to take appropriate measures to ensure peaceful assembly and guarantee citizens’ safety. The state has a positive obligation to effectively protect individuals from criminal acts by third parties and to take reasonable steps to prevent mistreatment when it knew or should have known such risks existed.
The events of September 8 confirm once again that Georgian Dream continues to grossly violate human rights against peaceful protest. The group and organized nature of the violence, the absence of effective police response, and the public endorsement of violence by high-ranking party officials demonstrate that this was not an isolated incident or a mere “citizen confrontation,” but the deliberate use of criminal methods and physical violence to suppress peaceful protest and punish the exercise of the right to assembly.”
GYLA: A targeted, violent attack on participants of a protest march, aimed at suppressing peaceful protest and punishing citizens, using criminal methods
