Transparency International Georgia has accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of effectively abolishing the constitutional right to freedom of assembly through a series of legislative changes introduced since late 2024.
The organization stated that the government has amended protest-related laws four times within the past year, each time tightening restrictions on demonstrations and expanding police powers. The group says these measures directly contradict Georgia’s Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The changes include harsher penalties for protest participants, such as ‘preventive detention,’ the criminalization of face coverings and increased fines and imprisonment terms for organizing or attending rallies. Fines for blocking roads or placing posters have risen up to twentyfold, while repeat offenses now carry criminal liability and prison sentences of up to four years.
The Venice Commission has repeatedly criticized several of these amendments, including the preventive detention mechanism and the blanket ban on masks, calling them disproportionate and incompatible with democratic standards.
Transparency International reports that since 2023, authorities have launched criminal proceedings against 148 protest participants, 66 of whom are in pre-trial detention. Thousands of citizens have also been fined 5,000 GEL or more for participating in demonstrations.
The organization warns that the cumulative effect of these laws has been to ‘systematically dismantle the right to peaceful assembly’ and grant the Ministry of Internal Affairs sweeping control over how and when protests can take place.
