Georgia Jails Eight Opposition Leaders Including Giorgi Vashadze Amid Crackdown; UK Protests, Opposition Boycotts Elections

The ruling Georgian Dream party has intensified its crackdown on opposition figures and civil society in Georgia, resulting in the imprisonment of at least eight opposition leaders within a two-week span. Key opposition figures sentenced include Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze from the Lelo party, each receiving eight-month prison terms and bans from holding public office for two years. Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the Strategy Aghmashenebeli party, was sentenced to seven months in prison for refusing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission, marking him as the fourth senior opposition figure jailed in recent days. Former MP and ex-Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Defense and Security Committee, Givi Targamadze, was also sentenced to seven months for similar reasons.

The crackdown has extended beyond politicians to include activists, intellectuals, and independent media, with repressive laws enacted to silence critical voices. Civil society organizations have resisted government demands for personal data on vulnerable individuals. The United Kingdom has formally summoned Georgia’s Chargé d’Affaires to protest the government's actions, warning of possible further measures if democratic norms are not restored. International observers and NGOs have condemned the developments, describing the Georgian Dream regime as consolidating power through anti-democratic actions and eroding democracy and pluralism in the country. Opposition parties have announced a joint boycott of upcoming local elections, denouncing the process as illegitimate under the leadership of Bidzina Ivanishvili, whom they refer to as heading a “Russian regime.” The political repression has been characterized as the most severe since the 1930s, with concerns mounting over the future of Georgia’s pro-European trajectory.