Court Orders Psychiatric Evaluation for Detained Activist Nino Datashvili, Lawyers Say Move is Meant to Discredit Her
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, August 4, 2025
Tbilisi City Court has ordered the involuntary transfer of activist and teacher Nino Datashvili to a psychiatric facility for a twenty-day evaluation, following a request from prosecutors. The decision has been strongly criticized by Datashvili's lawyers, who say it is an attempt to stigmatize and silence her.
The court granted the request on August 2, according to the Partnership for Human Rights (PHR), a local legal aid group representing Datashvili. The group said the decision was made without notifying the activist or allowing her to be present at the hearing.
"The prosecutors requested to carry out court psychiatric expertise illegally and without a ground, which means that the prosecutors requested to determine the issue of sanity for Nino Datashvili without any criteria or grounds," said PHR head Tamuna Gabodze in a statement to reporters.
Gabodze said the prosecution based its request on Datashvili's medical records from 2019, which had been submitted by the defense as part of a motion related to her spinal condition. The records indicate she suffers from intervertebral disc damage, hernia, and radiculitis, with "emotional lability" listed as a symptom. PHR argues the court should have considered the condition as a reason to review her pre-trial detention, not to justify psychiatric confinement.
"The court noted to use proportional measures of coercion should Nino Datashvili object to the expertise, which means that the court issued a permission for Nino Datashvili's involuntary transfer to a psychiatric facility," Gabodze said.
She added that the decision represents "an illegal extension of Nino's imprisonment, this time in a psychiatric facility."
PHR contends the move is part of a broader effort to undermine Datashvili's credibility and activism.
"The decision aims to discredit and stigmatize Nino, because psychiatry is stigmatized in Georgia, and their goal is to ultimately push Nino Datashvili away from activism and brazenly, without any grounds, lock up a person who is fighting for her rights in a psychiatric facility," Gabodze said.
In response, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia issued a statement defending its request. The agency said the evaluation was based on medical records submitted by the defense, "where psycho-emotional lability is indicated as an accompanying disease," and argued that ordering psychiatric expertise was standard in such cases.
"We want to inform the public that in similar cases, a psychiatric expertise is always ordered," the statement read.
Datashvili was arrested on July 20 and is facing charges of assaulting a public officer, which carry a potential prison sentence of four to seven years. The charges stem from a June 9 incident when she was forcibly removed from a courtroom by bailiffs. Video footage shows her flailing her arms while being restrained, though it is unclear whether any significant contact was made.
