Responding to news that five law enforcement officers in Georgia have been arrested and charged over attacks in 2024 on three people attending anti-government protests, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director, said:
“Accountability for the widespread abusive use of force by police against peaceful protesters, journalists and government critics during the crackdown on protests since 2024 cannot end with the recent arrest of five law enforcement officers, already 17 months late. Amnesty International has documented dozens of cases of unlawful use of force and alleged torture and other ill-treatment, and severe injuries – including broken bones – inflicted on individuals who were simply exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Hundreds of protesters complained of such treatment. Justice means accountability for all these cases.”
“These five arrests alone do little to change the broader picture of impunity in Georgia, or the fact that dozens of cases of torture and other ill-treatment remain without effective investigation.
These five arrests alone do little to change the broader picture of impunity in Georgia, or the fact that dozens of cases of torture and other ill-treatment remain without effective investigation
Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director
“The Prosecutor General’s investigation must extend to all those suspected of responsibility, including those who gave orders and who failed in their duty to prevent human rights violations. It is imperative that there is accountability across the entire chain of command, and for all reported cases of unlawful police conduct.”
Background
On 7 May 2026, Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced the arrest of five current and former law enforcement officers for violence against protester Zviad Maisashvili, politician Levan Khabeishvili and journalist Guram Rogava during the 2024 protests in Tbilisi. The five have been charged with “abuse of power with the use of violence”. One of them is also charged with “unlawfully obstructing a journalist’s professional activities resulting in harm to health or other serious consequences”. The charges carry a penalty of five to eight years’ imprisonment.
The announcement followed an investigative report by TV Formula which identified, through Ministry of Interior sources, an alleged attacker of Guram Rogava, then a TV Formula journalist, who was assaulted on 29 November 2024 while covering protests.
Amnesty Intentional and local watchdogs documented how protesters were targeted indiscriminately with rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons by Georgian police during peaceful protests between November and December 2024. Others were beaten and subjected to violence amounting to violations of the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment, including in police vehicles known as “torture vans.” More than 300 detainees reported serious physical abuse, with over 80 requiring hospitalizations for concussions, fractures, and broken bones. Numerous detainees were taken to undisclosed locations, held without access to lawyers or families, and denied medical treatment and emergency surgery.
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