Fines Imposed in Georgia for Posts About the Ivanishvili Family; Case Numbers Rise Following New Department’s Creation

Georgian courts have begun issuing fines for offensive Facebook posts targeting Bera Ivanishvili—the son of Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party. At least two such rulings have already taken effect, and the number of similar proceedings has risen noticeably since June 1, when a new department was established within the Ministry of Internal Affairs to combat online hate speech.

One of the most recent hearings took place on July 3 at the Tbilisi City Court. Giorgi Gogia was found guilty of petty hooliganism and fined 3,000 lari (approximately $1,100). The case stemmed from a Facebook post, with the Ministry of Internal Affairs submitting the relevant materials to the court.

According to investigators, Gogia posted an offensive caption accompanying a news story about Bera Ivanishvili—who lives abroad—stating that he does not distinguish between Georgian citizens based on political views and would not consider a compatriot's political convictions when deciding whether or not to help them in the U.S. Such posts circulated online following a recent interview Bera Ivanishvili gave to Azerbaijani businessman Emin Agalarov. In the conversation, he said that Georgia is "his heritage, blood, and family" and that he does not divide the Georgian people into those who voted for "Georgian Dream" and those who voted against it.

"I don't want this to sound banal, but I love all Georgians; if—to take the simplest example—I see a Georgian getting into a fight in America, I won't ask or try to figure out who he voted for," Ivanishvili's eldest son assured.

The offensive comment posted under the news story also referenced an audio recording released in 2021. In the recording, a person with a voice resembling that of Bera Ivanishvili allegedly asks former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to punish users who had insulted him on Facebook. The ruling party had previously denied the recording's authenticity, and the exact time it was made was never established. During the proceedings, lawyer Mikhail Zakarashvili stated that his client "neither confirmed nor denied" being the author of the controversial post.

Similar rulings had previously been issued against civic activists Nata Peradze and Tamar Giorgadze. Both were found guilty of petty hooliganism and fined for posts containing insults directed at Bera and Bidzina Ivanishvili, respectively.

It is worth noting that in the aforementioned interview with Agalarov, the son of the "Georgian Dream" founder stated that despite the existence of negative comments online, he had never encountered negativity from Georgian citizens in real life—something he described as a "huge honor" and a "huge joy."

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