Georgian Parliament Speaker says violent protest detainees “victims of manipulation”, not political prisoners

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday described individuals detained over crimes linked to the 2024-2025 violent protests as victims of manipulation, arguing that they were first used as “soldiers of the barricades” and are now being used as “victim-prisoners” by those who encouraged them to take part in the unrest.

In a social media message, Papuashvili said that around 100 people faced criminal prosecution in connection with offenses committed during the protests, excluding those accused of organizing the violence.

According to him, 45 of those individuals have already been released after admitting guilt, reaching plea agreements with prosecutors, or receiving presidential pardons, while 72 remain in custody.

“If the government’s goal were to keep these people locked up, as those speaking on their behalf claim, then why are 45 people free today?” Papuashvili asked.

He argued that the state has never viewed the detainees as political opponents, but rather as people who were persuaded that breaking the law in the name of a revolution was an act of heroism.

“They were blind instruments in the hands of irresponsible people who first convinced them that violating the law in the name of revolution was heroic, then sent them to the barricades, and when the revolution failed and the time came to take responsibility, remained safely behind the barricades themselves”, he said.

Papuashvili claimed that revolutions require victims, and failed revolutions require them even more, adding that those who were most easily influenced ultimately became the sacrifice.

The parliamentary speaker questioned who benefits from the continued imprisonment of the remaining detainees, arguing that legal avenues exist for release through acknowledgment of responsibility, admission of wrongdoing, and a commitment not to repeat the offenses.

“The state’s approach is simple: understand what you participated in, take responsibility for your actions, acknowledge that you broke the law, and confirm that you will not do the same again”, Papuashvili continued.

He stressed that this does not require individuals to renounce their political views, but rather to accept legal responsibility for specific actions.

Papuashvili also criticized what he described as “moral terror” exercised by political activists and supporters who, he said, encourage detainees to remain imprisoned rather than seek legal mechanisms for release.

According to him, some opposition figures continue to portray detainees as symbols of political struggle in order to preserve the image of a failed revolution.

“Their slogan, ‘Freedom for the prisoners’, is increasingly taking on the opposite meaning: do not take responsibility, do not dare leave prison, stay there until the end - we do not need your freedom, we need your imprisonment”, he wrote.

Papuashvili argued that court verdicts have already been delivered and crimes acknowledged, claiming that there is no longer a serious observer, either in Georgia or abroad, who denies that the protests were violent.

He concluded by saying that many of the remaining detainees are suffering not only because of their own actions but also because of the

“dishonesty” of those who encouraged them to break the law, later abandoned them, and now portray efforts to secure their release as morally unacceptable.

“For that reason”, Papuashvili wrote, “the most accurate name for them today is ‘prisoners of dishonesty’”.