Link to article: https://voima.fi/artikkeli/2025/georgian-lapimadat-unelmat-kansan-oikeuksia-puolustanut-juristi-on-itsekin-pulassa/
Automated english translation:
Georgia’s rotten dreams. A lawyer who defended people’s rights is now in trouble herself
A small country in the Caucasus is a major source of fear for Russia: the development of democracy in Georgia could serve as an example to the Kremlin’s subjects. Now the population is controlled by violent police forces and rulers who bow to Russia, says Ana Jabauri.
VLAST
3 Dec 2025, 15:12
Written by Iida Simes
Photos: Nauska
Magazine 7/2025
Reading time: 3 minutes
Georgia
– A mountainous country in the Caucasus, in Southwest Asia, between Russia and Turkey, next to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
– Capital: Tbilisi
– Population: 4.9 million
– 88% speak Georgian as their mother tongue; 6% speak Azeri and 4% Armenian. Just over 1% are Russian speakers.
“Unidentified law enforcement officers are arresting people on the streets,” says lawyer Ana Jabauri. “In detention, people are beaten and tortured.”
Ana Jabauri (b. 1995) is a human rights lawyer from Tbilisi, Georgia.
She led one of the groups monitoring Georgia’s parliamentary elections. During the elections, they documented blatant fraud. Soon after, Jabauri witnessed numerous serious human rights violations.
It is not entirely clear who is beating and detaining citizens. They are dressed in black, unmarked commandos whose body cameras are turned off.
However, it is known who commands them.
“Hareba,” Jabauri answers without hesitation.
According to human rights organizations, abused detainees have been forced to shout praise for Hareba. Hareba, meaning “bringer of happiness,” refers to Zviad Kharazishvili, head of the Interior Ministry’s special forces.
In 2012, a Media Institute was established in Georgia, an organization monitoring media freedom and transparency, somewhat similar to Finland’s Council for Mass Media. Ana Jabauri works there.
—or would, if she could.
Due to the tightening political situation in Georgia, Jabauri fled to Finland to a safe residency organized by Artists at Risk. She has been threatened, and supporters of those in power attack her work online.
From the Soviet Union to the Rose Revolution
Georgia has long been under pressure from its northern neighbor, Russia. The Kremlin machinery led by President Vladimir Putin—who fears democracy above all—has harassed the country through both short conventional war and long-term hybrid warfare.
In 2003, the will of the people became visible when Georgians protested widely and peacefully. In the so-called Rose Revolution, they ousted Eduard Shevardnadze, who had led Georgia in various roles since Soviet times, beginning in 1972.
In 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili, a Ukrainian-Georgian former justice minister and leader of the Rose Revolution, became president. Despite promises to eliminate corruption and establish fair governance, he soon became unpopular with the opposition and failed to deliver effectively.
Russia reacted angrily when Saakashvili suggested that a referendum could be held in South Ossetia, a Georgian region bordering Russia, on autonomy. At the same time, Georgia itself sought control over the region, so full independence was never truly on offer. Saakashvili claimed he was aiming for peace and to end the ongoing conflict.
Russia does not want strong autonomy in Caucasus regions, particularly not in Chechnya, which it devastated over years, bombing its capital Grozny into ruins.
In 2008, Georgia attacked South Ossetia, prompting Russia to intervene and invade Georgia as well. The war lasted a few days, and around 400 people were killed.
In fact, the war has never fully ended, as Russia still occupies one-fifth of Georgia.
A billionaire’s dream
In 2012, a period of intense hybrid warfare began in Georgia, escalating in recent years. Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who rose from the ruins of the Soviet Union, founded the populist party Georgian Dream. Initially presenting itself as center-left, the party gradually shifted toward pro-Russian, far-right ideology by the 2020s.
The parliamentary elections of October 2024 marked a major turning point. Georgian Dream pulled the country closer to Russia, with strong backing from Moscow, even though a clear majority of citizens wanted closer ties with Europe.
Transparency International reported that the elections were unfair. Even before voting, candidates and journalists were threatened.
Ana Jabauri witnessed blatant fraud:
“I met many people who were paid to vote multiple times.”
She was sometimes denied access to polling stations. While attempting to document irregularities:
“Once, a member of the election commission hit me and tried to snatch my phone.”
Agents on the streets
When the Central Election Commission announced that Georgian Dream had won as much as 54% of the vote, people flooded the streets in protest. Neither demonstrators nor election observers considered the result credible. Hundreds of thousands protested day after day.
“Georgian Dream?” Jabauri scoffs.
“We Georgians call it the ‘Russian Dream,’” she says with a sad laugh, “because they have copied their program directly from Russia.”
The Kremlin, in turn, has revived the term “foreign agent” from Stalin.
Stalin—born in Georgia as Iosif Dzhugashvili—used the term to mean “enemy of the people.” Such people could then, as now, be eliminated from society.
Demands for new elections were not met.
In spring 2025, the new authorities began tightening legislation and stripping away civil rights.
Georgian Dream has consistently opposed political efforts toward equality and democracy. It labels activists, experts, and journalists as “foreign agents.” Supporters of sexual and gender diversity are portrayed as enemies, creating internal divisions and strengthening authoritarian control.
“Perhaps I still see a little hope,” Jabauri reflects over the phone, though she immediately adds that the situation is harsh: Georgia’s ruling party is rapidly dismantling the rule of law and committing serious human rights violations.
“We can only rely on the support of the international community.”
This article is part of Voima’s Vlast! series, focusing on Russia, the former Soviet Union, Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia, and issues of war, conflict, and human rights in these regions. The series is supported by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation.
