Georgia’s fifth President slams expulsion of Theater University students for protests as ‘unimaginable shame’

Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, has criticized the expulsion of students from the Shota Rustaveli Theater and Film University in capital Tbilisi for their engagement in pro-European protests, calling it an “unimaginable shame”.

In a social media post, Zourabichvili recalled the university’s rector, Giorgi Shautashvili, referencing his past claims of being a descendant of Maro Makashvili, a Georgian national heroine who died in 1921 fighting against Soviet occupation.

“He did not understand that the students expelled today are the real descendants of Maro Makashvili, and he himself has become a descendant of her murderer – the Bolsheviks!” Zourabichvili wrote.

The student movement at the Theater University announced on Monday that the university had terminated the status of several students involved in ongoing protests sparked by the Georgian Dream Government’s decision last year to halt EU integration until 2028.

The decision has sparked criticism, with opposition figures and civil society groups accusing the authorities of suppressing dissent.