Daily protests continued in Georgia since November 28, 2024, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the country was halting talks on joining the European Union.

The move triggered waves of demonstrations that have been met with mass arrests, police violence and a widening crackdown on dissent.

Rallies large and small have continued despite a multipronged effort by the government to curb the movement through laws targeting protesters, rights groups, nongovernmental organizations and independent media.

Critics say some have been modeled on legislation passed in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has harshly stifled dissent.

In recent months, the ruling Georgian Dream party fast-tracked amendments tightening rules on public assemblies.

Masking faces, blocking roads or erecting temporary structures now carries up to 15 days of administrative detention for participants and 20 days for organizers.

A second offense brings criminal charges.

First-time offenders previously faced a 5,000 GEL (1800 USD) fine, raised from 500 GEL (185 USD) last year.

Hundreds have been detained under the new law.

Among them is Rusiko Kobakhidze, a mother of nine and researcher at the Soviet Past Research Laboratory, who has been protesting daily outside Parliament.

“For my children and grandchildren, I don’t want a country where they cannot speak openly, where they will be treated unjustly and won’t find justice,” she told AP.

Kobakhidze was arrested twice in November for blocking a street during protests and received sentences of one and four days behind bars.

Authorities have also intensified pressure on opposition parties.

Georgian Dream has petitioned the Constitutional Court to ban the country’s three main opposition groups — the United National Movement, Akhali/Coalition for Change and Lelo.

Several opposition leaders are jailed, in exile or facing criminal charges, which opponents say are politically motivated.

Tina Bokuchava, chairperson of the United National Movement, said the ruling party founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia "is essentially fulfilling every single strategic objective that Vladimir Putin had vis-à-vis Georgia.”

Despite the suspension of accession talks, Georgian Dream officials insist the country’s European path remains unchanged.

“Our foreign policy is EU integration and NATO integration. Nothing has paused and nothing has changed in that regard,” said ruling party lawmaker Mariam Lashkhi.

She added that international pressure should not influence "internal social economic development policy.”

The European Union enlargement report issued on November 4, criticized Georgian authorities of democratic backsliding saying their “repressive” actions are “fundamentally incompatible with EU values of democracy.”

AP video by Zura Muradov and Sophiko Megrelidze