She was among the first to arrive outside the courtroom in Tbilisi, Georgia. Nothing in the world would make Marina Terichvili, 75, miss this moment. For five months, her son, a 54-year-old taxi driver, had been in prison after taking part in pro-European demonstrations. On this May morning, his trial resumed alongside 10 co-defendants. “Today is a joy for me, because it’s a chance to see him,” explained the elderly woman, dressed all in black, her hands neatly folded on her stomach.
Terichvili’s son, Giorgi, was accused of throwing a plastic bottle at police officers during a rally. He faces four to six years in prison. He is the oldest of the 51 demonstrators still imprisoned out of the 486 people arrested during protests between November 2024 and February, according to figures from human rights organizations. The protest movement had been shaking this former Soviet republic in the Caucasus without interruption since November 28, 2024, when the government announced it was suspending the process of joining the European Union.
In this country where the judiciary is controlled by those in power, the situation of these prisoners reflects an unprecedented government crackdown since the fall of the Soviet Union and the country’s independence in 1991. Regarded by the opposition as political prisoners, most of these protesters have been accused of “organizing, leading or participating in collective violence” or of “assaulting a police officer,” and face several years behind bars.
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