Punitive Fines for Road Blockades: Violation of Freedom of Assembly and Expression
in Georgia
In recent years, the Georgian government, led by the ruling party Georgian Dream, has
escalated legal and financial pressure on protest participants through legislative
amendments and arbitrary enforcement practices.
In 2023, amendments to Article 174¹ of the Administrative Offenses Code drastically
increased fines for the spontaneous blocking of roads during demonstrations, multiplying
the fine tenfold - from
500 GEL to 5,000 GEL (approx. from €170 to €1,700). This measure
was passed in the wake of growing protest activity, particularly after mass mobilizations on
and after November 28.
Law enforcement agencies have used facial recognition cameras as the primary and often
sole source of evidence in these cases. Typically, a still image of a protester captured on
camera is presented in court as sufficient proof of wrongdoing, even when no active
participation in road blockage can be demonstrated.
One of the most alarming practices is that individuals have been fined even when arriving at
the protest site long after the street was already blocked by police themselves, or in cases
where they did not actively participate in the blockade at all. In several video recordings,
protesters are shown asking police officers if crossing the road is allowed, to which the police
respond affirmatively
–
yet for blocking the street on the same day after police allowing
crossing people are later fined.
This enforcement approach constitutes a serious violation of the right to peaceful assembly
and expression, particularly during spontaneous gatherings, which are protected under
international law. Liability imposed on participants and organizers of an assembly must be
proportionate
and reflect the nature of the individual’s conduct. The blanket and
disproportionate use of 5,000 GEL fines fails this test of proportionality and necessity.
These punitive measures are especially damaging in Georgia’s socio-economic
context,
where the majority of citizens cannot reasonably afford to pay such fines:
According to official data from the Revenue Service, as of December 2024, only 15% of all
income recipients (185,470 people) earned more than 4,800 GEL per month. The vast
majority - over 1 million people - earn less than that, with 314,836 people earning between
1,200–2,400 GEL, and nearly 294,000 people earning 600 GEL or less per month.