After the Easter holidays, the Georgian Dream campaign returned with a new approach to the adoption of the Russian law, sparking surprise, confusion, and mostly amusement among the public.
One noticeable change was in the messaging of Georgian Dream, as seen in the new posters shared by party leaders on social media on May 7. They now featured the slogan: “No to the Russian law! Yes to Europe, yes to transparency.” This change in message showed that despite several attempts, the party couldn’t quell public protests against the “no Russian law” stance, and was now attempting to align its message accordingly.
One particularly amusing yet concerning example was a poster shared by Kakha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and secretary general of the Georgian Dream party. Screenshots of private chats were disseminated depicting Georgian Dream coordinators requesting people employed in public services to “like” Kaladze’s post.
Facebook is the most popular platform in Georgia, and when politicians make statements, they might be mocked by those who disagree. This was evident in Kaladze’s case too. His modified message received a lot of reactions, with the majority reacting with “haha”. Consequently, Georgian Dream leaders began mobilizing resources to counter the protesters. While the entire process may seem amusing, it also sheds light on the extent to which personal freedom can be curtailed, even to the extent of coercing people to react to a post.
Intimidation tactics
Another concerning development that occurred on May 7-8 was the following: Suddenly, strangers began calling and threatening people and activists participating in the rally. Several video recordings of these incidents were shared on May 7. The tactics followed a pattern: make a call, ask why this law is considered Russian, and then resort to swearing. Reports also mentioned threats to visit the homes of the recipients and intimidation tactics. There were also instances of calling family members and disturbing activists in this manner. It is worth noting that these calls targeted not only activists or opposition politicians, but also regular citizens who were merely present at the rally and expressing their opinions. While many found amusement in this situation, the signs of intimidation, threats, personal information disclosure, and harassment of family members indicate a troubling trend. The calls were traced back to various international country codes.
Incidents of intimidation and physical violence against active citizens and civil society representatives have reached concerning levels. On May 5, a prominent Georgian teacher, Lado Abkhazava, was attacked in front of his son. The attackers labeled him as a member of the opposition party National Movement and hurled insults at him due to his activism. Similarly, on May 7, Giorgi Kldiashvili, director of the Freedom Development Institute (IDFI), and a cameraman of TV channel Formula were attacked.
Furthermore, the individuals known as “Titushki”, who assaulted rally participants on May 2 and who have been identified by citizens, remain at large without any arrests to date.