Georgian PM says law will be enforced strictly against anyone committing crimes regardless of political affiliation

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday said the law would be enforced strictly against anyone committing crimes, regardless of their political affiliation.

In response to a journalist’s question concerning the recent damage to campaign banners and political advertising materials by the opposition activists, Kobakhidze noted that previous approaches had been “too lenient”, which encouraged repeated violations.

“You know how the election campaigns in 2020, 2021, and 2024 were conducted. Banners and campaign materials were damaged - this was happening on both sides. The practice was inconsistent and wrong. From today, the practice will be correct: whoever commits a crime, no matter which party they belong to, the law will be applied with full strictness”, the PM said.

He further recalled past incidents of political unrest, criticising what he described as an excessively soft response by law enforcement.

“There was a lenient approach across all directions. You remember, almost half of Tbilisi was burned and only one person was arrested, who was later pardoned by [the-then President] Salome Zourabichvili. In another case, just six people were detained, no more. The practice was overly soft, and of course, that is wrong. My position is that the law must be strictly enforced”, the Prime Minister concluded.