The ruling party of Georgia, Georgian Dream and its founder Bidzina Ivanishvil are systematically weaponizing the justice system to persecute peaceful demonstrators who oppose the government’s pro-Russian, pro-Chinese, and pro-Iranian geopolitical reorientation and who advocate for Georgia’s democratic future.

Key state institutions, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the judiciary operate in coordinated fashion and in the political interests of the ruling party. Instead of acting as independent bodies, they are used to silence dissent, suppress civic activism, and punish independent media and opposition representatives through politically motivated prosecutions, censorship, and imprisonment.

Notably, many senior officials within these institutions have already been sanctioned by democratic countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, for their involvement in corruption and serious human rights violations. These same officials now control and direct the prosecution of the government’s political opponents.

Since 2024, dozens of individuals have been subjected to criminal prosecution solely for participating in peaceful protests. To date, 49 individuals are serving prison sentences following guilty verdicts, while 65 individuals are in pre-trial detention. Among those detained are business leaders who publicly opposed oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili and supported pro- western demonstrations.

Independent monitoring organizations have documented systemic bias within the judiciary, including the routine use of unjustified and disproportionate pre- trial detention. Prosecutorial motions are frequently unsupported by credible evidence, yet judges routinely approve them, further eroding the rule of law. Courts often replicate prosecutorial arguments verbatim without any meaningful examination of case-specific facts or evidence, demonstrating political interference and a profound lack of judicial independence.

Numerous opposition leaders have been imprisoned on charges widely regarded as politically motivated retaliation by the Georgian Dream government. It is evident that they are being punished for opposing the ruling party’s pro-Russian, pro-Chinese, and pro-Iranian policies and for peacefully defending Georgia’s democratic trajectory against growing authoritarianism.

The lists provided below are of political prisoners who have been sentenced, as well as those who are currently in pre-trial detention, including students, politicians, journalists, businessmen, and civil society activists.