Proceedings have been initiated against Georgian blogger Tornike Razmadze over a social media comment. According to media reports, the blogger was summoned to a new department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs tasked with monitoring the internet.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia is questioning me: why did you insult and curse at Russian propagandists Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir?”, Razmadze says in a video published on September 10.
According to the administrative offense report, Mariam Mamardashvili, an inspector for especially important cases in the Hate Speech Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Human Rights Protection Department, examined Tornike Razmadze’s Facebook page “in order to respond to the offense.”
“As a result of the inspection, it was established”: Razmadze published a video on the social network, under which, on June 12, 2026, he left a comment reading as follows:
“Fuck them… On their knees.”
“The post in question is public and contains elements of an alleged offense under Part 1 of Article 166 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia,” the document states.
Razmadze has been charged with petty hooliganism (foul language in public places, offensive harassment of citizens, and other similar actions that disrupt public order and/or public peace).
This article carries a penalty of a fine ranging from 500 to 3,000 GEL (approximately $200–$1,100) or administrative detention for up to 20 days.
According to Tornike Razmadze, the case concerns a comment he made regarding statements by Russian propagandists. At the time, he said that Georgia was being prepared for “something terrible,” pointing out how the Georgian authorities’ talking points aligned with statements made by Margarita Simonyan.
In the video, the blogger shared an excerpt from a televised appearance by the Russian propaganda mouthpiece, in which she discussed Erekle II, the king of Kartli-Kakheti who signed the Treaty of Georgievsk. Simonyan claimed that Erekle II “petitioned on his knees to be taken into Mother Russia.” The propagandist also added: “Now Mother Russia is reclaiming what is hers and showing the world how friendship can be done differently. We will yet see new ‘Kings Erekle’ on their knees, begging Mother Russia once again to take them back home.”