21:30, 7 January 2026

Pro-European integration protests in Tbilisi have continued for 406 consecutive days.

Supporters of European integration in Tbilisi held a protest for the 406th day in a row, demanding the release of political prisoners. Relatives of the political prisoners stated that "prisoners of conscience" do not need pardons.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on January 6, the 405th day of daily protests, participants in pro-European protests celebrated Christmas together by singing the festive anthem "Alilo" and lighting candles. Georgia's fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, participated in the festive event.

Protesters in Georgia have been demanding new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners since November 28, 2024. They hold daily protests on Rustaveli Avenue. In October 2025, after laws on assemblies and demonstrations were tightened, security forces began to arrest massively protesters on Rustaveli Avenue. Most of them were accused of blocking the avenue and obstructing traffic.

This evening, for the 406th consecutive day, Georgian citizens gathered outside the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue. Activists came to the traditional protest site carrying national flags, as well as flags of the European Union and the United States, Interpressnews reports.

The demonstrators' demands remain unchanged: holding new parliamentary elections and the release of those detained during the protests. There were no reports of protesters marching through the streets of Tbilisi today.

According to Zurab Tsetskhladze, the father of Zviad Tsetskhladze, who was arrested during the protests, "prisoners of conscience" are not asking President Mikheil Kavelashvili for a pardon. "This will not happen and should not happen; this country does not accept this," Pirveli TV reported Tsetskhladze as saying.

After October 18, 2025, security forces detained protesters en masse on Rustaveli Avenue, most of them under the administrative law of "artificially blocking a road." Over three days, 60 participants of the protests were detained by security forces and charged with blocking the avenue in Tbilisi and obstructing traffic. Zviad Tsetskhladze, who was convicted for participating in a protest, went on a hunger strike on October 25 in protest against the administrative arrest of his father.

"If prisoners of conscience were released with a pardon, then the struggle we've waged so far wouldn't be worth a penny," said Zurab Tsetskhladze.

He also noted that Georgian Dream is doing two things: simultaneously demonstrating compassion to the public and simultaneously seeking to push people who are "selflessly brave, courageous, and fighting" to the very bottom.

"This country needs decent people; the development of this country, the progress of this country, needs devoted heroes who are ready to sacrifice their freedom for the sake of the Motherland and, if necessary, even their lives," he emphasized.

Participants in daily protests outside the Georgian parliament since December 1 have been demanding a full investigation into BBC reports that the authorities used force during the dispersal of anti-government rallies in Tbilisi in 2024. Countries used chemical agents against protesters, including the World War I-era chemical warfare agent "kamit." On December 5, they demanded the names of the chemicals used to disperse protesters be made public. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs never purchased "kamit"; it purchased and used a substance called "chlorobenzylidine malononitrile," the State Security Service of Georgia stated on December 6. The service has closed its investigation into abuses of power by security forces but is continuing its investigation into hostile actions against the country in connection with the BBC report.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/419745