Brussels, 5.11.2025

Key Points:

• The Georgian Dream Government has intensified its oppression against peaceful pro-European protesters, especially young people;
• This oppression takes form of fabricated offences designed to intimidate, deter and justify arrest;
• JEF Europe and JEF Georgia are demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners and stop of all state violence in whichever form;
• JEF Europe and JEF Georgia are calling on the EU to support the Georgian opposition and pressure the Georgian Dream party to cease it’s his state oppression. 

For months now, the Georgian Dream Government has intensified its campaign against freedom of thought, targeting especially the young generation that dares to speak up. This generation, the very heartbeat of Georgia’s future, has become the main target of repression. They are beaten, fined and silenced not because they committed crimes, but because they refuse to live without freedom.

 

Across the country, students, NGO volunteers and independent journalists are facing financial punishment and harassment. Some receive mysterious “tax debts” without explanation. Others are fined for “disturbing public order” simply for posting on social media or joining peaceful protests. Activists are dragged into police cars for standing on the wrong street corner, etc. So, the message is clear – if you question authority, you will pay for it.

 

One of the latest brave NGO volunteers to fall victim to that relentless oppression of the Georgian Dream party, is Anastasia Japaridze, volunteer of the organisation “Civic Idea”. She was recently arrested during a peaceful protest in Tbilisi. But she is far from the only one:

 

Many of these brave young people now carry the title of political prisoner. Some were arrested for waving flags, some for chanting slogans, some for simply refusing to hide their opinions. Each one of them represents the soul of Georgia, a nation that can not be broken, no matter how many times it is repressed.

 

The attacks on people of Georgia are not only  economical , it is also psychological warfare. Free expression has been locked away behind propaganda, media control, and public intimidation. Independent journalists are censored. Civil society organizations are labeled as “foreign agents.” Even humor, satire, and art are now seen as rebellion.

 

In recent months, several young activists have been detained under fabricated accusations, joining the growing list of political prisoners. Their only “crime” is believing in the European future and the democratic principles guaranteed by the Georgian Constitution. Many have faced isolation, intimidation, and social exclusion after their release.

 

Georgia’s youth, despite the growing risks, continue to march, speak, build the society they believe in, and always chase for freedom, the right which belongs to everyone since the day they are born.

 

In light of this situation, JEF Europe and JEF Georgia are demanding  the immediate release of all political prisoners and that the Georgian Dream Government stops all forms of state oppression. We also call on EU policymakers to raise their voice in support of the pro-European movement in Georgia that demands democracy and freedom in a European Georgia.

 

Georgia belongs in Europe, and Europe belongs in Georgia.

 

“I am Georgian. Therefore, I am European”

– Zurab Zhvania

 

Further Reading: 

 

Joint Statement l Stop the nightmare, restore Georgia’s European dream – JEF Europe

Future of the Eastern Partnership: a new European strategy for the East – JEF Europe

 

Contacts: 

Xesc Mainzer, 

Vice President

xesc.mainzer@jef.eu

Young European Federalists
Rue des Deux Églises 14
1000 Brussels

 

Ani Sulikashvili, 

International Officer

JEF Gerogia

 jefgeorgia@gmail.com