Georgian court fines cameraman for Facebook post criticizing police

Georgian TV cameraman Lasha Jioshvili has been fined 3,000 GEL by the Gori City Court over a Facebook post in which he verbally insulted police officers. The verdict was delivered by Judge Davit Papuashvili on May 1.

The case stems from an April 6 post in which Jioshvili uploaded several videos to his personal Facebook page, describing an incident involving police and using offensive language toward them.

In the post Jioshvili described a recurring protest near the Gori City Council. According to him, a car passed by the demonstrators and hurled aggressive remarks. A nearby patrol police unit followed the vehicle. Jioshvili and a friend also followed the police to observe their response. To his surprise, he witnessed the police parting ways with the car’s occupants with friendly gestures, such as handshakes and pats on the shoulder.

Three weeks later, Jioshvili saw the same car parked outside the council building, this time displaying a Ministry of Internal Affairs permit. The same patrol unit was also present but again took no action.

On April 6 he shared this story on Facebook, tagging the Interior Ministry’s official page and directing profanity toward the police — the basis for the fine.

On April 8, the Ministry of Internal Affairs charged him with insulting law enforcement officers.