Davit Koldari left Laituri Prison alone at 6 a.m. on August 7 after serving two years and three months for kicking out the window of a police car during a 2024 protest against Georgia’s foreign agents law. Activist Natia Gabrava noted the early drop-off kept supporters away from any footage.
He is the fourth protester convicted over those spring rallies to finish his term. Five others from the same wave remain locked up, and civil society lists far more under political-prisoner criteria.
Quiet Exit From Laituri at Dawn
Koldari had been held at Laituri Prison. His lawyer had been told the day before that release would come between 10 and 10:30 a.m. Instead the gates opened at 6 a.m.
Davit Koldari was thrown out of Laituri Prison at 6 a.m. He was standing alone outside the prison, probably so that we would not be there to greet him and would not have footage.
Natia Gabrava wrote that on Facebook. The timing fits a pattern of controlled optics around protest cases. No crowd gathered. No cameras rolled at the gate.
Civil Georgia reported he walked free after the full term calculated from his original detention date. The quiet start to the day left little room for celebration or fresh confrontation.
A mid-morning release would have given supporters time to assemble. The six-hour shift removed that window. The lawyer’s notice the day before set an expectation the prison then discarded without explanation.
What the Court Said He Did on Chitadze Street
Prosecutors said that on April 16, 2024, during a rally near parliament on Chitadze Street, Koldari climbed onto a patrol police vehicle and smashed its windshield with his foot. Judge Mikheil Jinjolia convicted him on February 4, 2025 under Article 187(1) of the Criminal Code.
The article covers damage or destruction of property that causes substantial harm. It carries a range of one to five years in prison. The court set the term at two years and three months, running from the day of detention.
His co-defendant that day, Giorgi Kuchuashvili, received four years for resisting a police officer and was released in May after serving two years. Two more, Omar Okribelashvili and Saba Meparishvili, finished 18-month property-damage terms in November 2025.
| Name | Charge focus | Sentence | Status Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davit Koldari | Property damage (police car) | 2 years 3 months | Released Aug 7 |
| Giorgi Kuchuashvili | Resisting officer | 4 years (served 2) | Released May |
| Omar Okribelashvili | Property damage | 18 months | Released Nov 2025 |
| Saba Meparishvili | Property damage | 18 months | Released Nov 2025 |
Five others from the spring 2024 cases are still inside: Giorgi Okmelashvili, Irakli Megvinetukhutsesi, Pridon Bubuteishvili on protest-related charges, plus Ucha Abashidze and Mariam Iashvili convicted of illegally obtaining and storing private-life secrets.
The property-damage counts clustered at the lower half of the one-to-five-year range. The resisting-officer count drew the longest formal term, even though early release cut the time served to two years. All four finished terms calculated from detention dates tied to the same spring rallies.
The Law That Drew Crowds in Spring 2024
The ruling Georgian Dream majority adopted the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence in May 2024. It requires NGOs and media receiving more than 20 percent of funding from abroad to register as organizations serving the interests of a foreign power and meet heavy reporting rules. Fines follow non-compliance.
Large street protests filled Tbilisi and other cities. Police used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. The United States, EU states, the Council of Europe and international groups urged the government to drop the bill. Parliament pushed it through anyway.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe later called the law incompatible with European standards and said it should be repealed without delay. Domestic groups filed a Strasbourg complaint over the law as well.
- May 2024: Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence adopted after mass protests.
- April 2025: more restrictive Foreign Agents Registration Act passed, covering individuals and entities under vague influence criteria, with up to five years possible for non-compliance.
- Further amendments tightened rules on grants, administrative offences and political associations.
Amnesty International described the package as part of a coordinated system to crush dissent. Dozens of civil society groups downsized, froze accounts or went voluntary. Journalists reported rising physical, legal and financial pressure.
The original registration duty hit organizations first. The April 2025 act then reached individuals under broader influence criteria. Each layer raised the cost of staying independent without changing the government’s stated transparency rationale.
Five From the Same Wave Still Serving
Koldari’s release trims the spring 2024 cohort but does not empty it. Okmelashvili, Megvinetukhutsesi and Bubuteishvili remain convicted on the original protest charges. Abashidze and Iashvili sit on the separate private-life secrets counts tied to the same period of arrests.
- Giorgi Okmelashvili, protest-related charges
- Irakli Megvinetukhutsesi, protest-related charges
- Pridon Bubuteishvili, protest-related charges
- Ucha Abashidze, illegally obtaining and storing private-life secrets
- Mariam Iashvili, illegally obtaining and storing private-life secrets
Later protest waves after the October 2024 election and the government’s announced pause in EU accession talks produced hundreds more detentions. Many alleged beatings inside police lines and vehicles. Courts handed multi-year terms for public-order offences and even for standing on sidewalks or roads after earlier road-blocking fines proved insufficient.
One teacher and activist faces fines totaling around $130,000 simply for peaceful participation. Bank accounts freeze. Homes sit at risk of seizure. The pattern turns minor acts into long financial or custodial burdens.
Nearly a Hundred Meet Political Prisoner Tests
In July 2026 Transparency International Georgia published a list of 91 people currently detained whom it regards as political prisoners under criteria from a 2012 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution. Thirteen meet all five tests. The bulk meet the core three: rights violation, disproportionate sentence, and unfair proceedings linked to political motive.
Amnesty’s June 2026 report put the number of people unjustly detained over protest activity above 150. The Public Defender’s Office recorded that 78 to 88 percent of those held by security forces in 2024-2025 reported ill-treatment. In November 2024 alone more than 300 detainees alleged serious abuse; over 80 needed hospital care for fractures and concussions.
91 people on TI-Georgia’s PACE-criteria list
150+ protest-related detainees counted by Amnesty as unjustly held
5 remaining from the original spring 2024 foreign-agents protest cohort
4 already released after serving full or reduced terms
These figures sit beside the Freedom House Freedom in the World 2026 assessment, which notes the April 2025 tightening of the agents rules and the steady rise in fines and prison terms for demonstration activity.
The gap between the four released and the ninety-one still listed shows how little one dawn exit changes the wider ledger. Amnesty’s higher count of unjust protest detentions stretches the frame further still.
How the Crackdown Spread Beyond One Law
The 2024 law was only the first layer. Successive bills added criminal penalties, expanded the definition of foreign influence to individuals, and raised the cost of non-registration. Courts processed protest cases with high conviction rates and limited scrutiny of police force allegations. Only one set of five officers has faced charges for assaulting protesters, and that case arrived after independent television footage surfaced.
- April-May 2024, Mass protests against the foreign influence bill; Koldari and others arrested on Chitadze Street and nearby.
- February 2025, Koldari and Kuchuashvili sentenced.
- April 2025, Stricter Foreign Agents Registration Act adopted.
- October-December 2024 onward, New protest wave after elections and EU-pause announcement; hundreds detained, torture allegations widespread.
- May-November 2025 and May-August 2026, Staggered releases of the first spring 2024 cohort as terms end; TI list of 91 published July 2026.
International responses included talk of sanctions. Several EU countries weighing sanctions and U.S. measures targeted officials. The pattern of foreign agents laws across the region shows similar tools used to squeeze independent groups while governments claim transparency.
Koldari’s case sits at the milder end: a single property-damage count, a mid-range sentence fully served. The system still produced it. The same system continues to hold the rest of his group and a much larger roster of later detainees.
Courts Treated One Rally Day Unevenly
The four completed cases from the Chitadze Street arrests show how the same protest day produced different legal outcomes. Property damage drew terms from eighteen months to two years and three months. Resisting an officer drew four years on paper before early release cut the time inside to two.
All four walked free only after the calendar ran out or the court allowed a reduced stay. None left because charges were dropped or convictions overturned. The remaining five from that wave still wait on their own calendars.
| Outcome type | Count from spring 2024 cohort |
|---|---|
| Full or reduced term completed | 4 |
| Still serving protest-related charges | 3 |
| Still serving private-life secrets counts | 2 |
That split keeps the original cohort visible long after the first windshield case closed. Each staggered release trims the list without ending the story that began on April 16, 2024.
Watchdog Tallies Outpace Every Single Release
Koldari’s exit lowers one small column. It does not move the larger columns kept by Transparency International Georgia and Amnesty International. Ninety-one names meet PACE political-prisoner criteria. More than one hundred fifty protest-related detentions register as unjust on Amnesty’s count.
The Public Defender’s ill-treatment range of 78 to 88 percent for 2024-2025 detainees supplies the backdrop those lists rest on. November 2024 alone produced more than three hundred abuse allegations and over eighty hospital cases for fractures and concussions.
One teacher’s fines near $130,000 for peaceful participation show the financial track running beside the custodial one. Account freezes and home-seizure risks extend the pressure past prison gates. Releases like Koldari’s close individual files while the wider machinery keeps writing new ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exact charge led to Davit Koldari’s prison term?
He was convicted under Article 187(1) of Georgia’s Criminal Code for damaging property that caused significant harm after prosecutors said he kicked in the windshield of a patrol car on April 16, 2024. The offence carries one to five years; the court chose two years and three months calculated from detention.
How many spring 2024 foreign-agents protesters have finished their sentences?
Four: Koldari in August 2026, Kuchuashvili in May 2026, and Okribelashvili plus Meparishvili in November 2025. Five others from that specific wave remain imprisoned on related or linked counts.
What does Georgia’s Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence require?
Organizations and media receiving over 20 percent of funding from foreign sources must register as serving a foreign power’s interests and file detailed reports. Later 2025 legislation extended similar registration and criminal penalties to individuals under broader influence criteria.
How many people does TI-Georgia count as political prisoners?
The July 2026 list names 91 currently detained people who meet PACE Resolution 1900 criteria. Thirteen meet all five tests; nearly all meet the core rights-violation, disproportion and unfair-proceeding standards.
Has the Council of Europe taken a position on the original agents law?
Yes. The Parliamentary Assembly stated in 2024 that the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence is incompatible with European standards and should be repealed without delay. Later PACE texts have continued to note democratic backsliding.
Koldari is free. The laws he protested are still on the books and thicker than when he went inside. The remaining five from his cohort, and the larger lists kept by watchdogs, mark the unfinished part of the same story.
