Georgia's fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, was fined GEL 5,000 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on March 3 for violating the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations. On that day, Zurabishvili participated in the Mothers' March, which was held to support politically imprisoned individuals and their families.
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"I was baptized as an activist today! I stood there where every mother should stand - by the side of the mothers of prisoners of conscience!" Salome Zurabishvili wrote on Facebook and also published the fine receipt.
The Georgian Dream parliament increased the fine for blocking roads tenfold, from GEL 500 to GEL 5,000, in February 2025, after mass protests began in Tbilisi. The police directly issue fines to citizens and hand over the penalty receipts. Committing the same offense repeatedly leads to a fine of GEL 6,000 or administrative imprisonment for up to 60 days.
Large and continuous protests followed the Georgian Dream party's decision to suspend talks on European Union accession until 2028.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is concealing public information regarding how many people have been fined or arrested for blocking roads in recent months and the total amount of issued fines.
In March, the Young Lawyers' Association stated that from November 2024 to March 18, 2025, fines issued to demonstrators for blocking roads reached GEL 2 million.
