Georgian activist detained after burning ruling party flag at protest

A Georgian activist who held a burning Georgian Dream flag during a protest in Tbilisi on Monday has been detained by police under administrative charges, prompting allegations of politically motivated repression.

Ucha Kemashvili, 35, was arrested late on Monday night near his apartment in Varketili, a district of the capital. The incident occurred hours after he was seen holding a burning flag bearing the logo of the ruling Georgian Dream party during a demonstration outside Parliament on Georgia’s Independence Day.

According to his lawyer, Lasha Tkesheladze, Kemashvili is being held under Article 173 of Georgia’s administrative code, which relates to disobedience to law enforcement officers. Tkesheladze dismissed the charge as politically driven, claiming his client was specifically targeted due to the flag incident.

“This is a political article,” he told the press. “They had no legal basis to detain him for the flag, so they charged him with disobedience. But how does one disobey 20 officers outside his home?”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has yet to comment on the detention.

Footage shared online by Kemashvili’s sister, Nini Kemashvili, shows him briefly holding the burning flag during the rally. She alleged that police followed her brother home before detaining him in what she described as a coordinated action involving multiple officers.

“I saw 25 people surrounding one man,” she wrote on social media. “They didn’t even answer me when I asked why they were arresting him.”

She also claimed that police transferred her brother to a detention facility in Digomi, northwest of Tbilisi, and that his phone was confiscated and later blocked.

Tkesheladze argued that the flag in question was not an official symbol but rather a privately printed item, and thus not protected under laws concerning state symbols.

Kemashvili is a well-known activist from the eastern Georgian town of Gurjaani and a regular figure at anti-government protests. He previously gained attention for establishing “Ucha Square” in his native village of Chumlaki in 2014, where he provided free Wi-Fi to residents.

He was also detained during demonstrations against the controversial “foreign agents” law in April 2024.