Detained Activist Nino Datashvili Accuses Prosecutor's Office of Abuse and Intimidation
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Detained activist Nino Datashvili has accused the Prosecutor's Office of illegal persecution and inhuman treatment, claiming that authorities are using a psychiatric examination to intimidate her instead of providing necessary medical care.
In a handwritten letter delivered by her lawyers from the penitentiary, Datashvili describes severe physical pain stemming from a spinal condition, which she says has been exacerbated by her recent detention. Despite her condition, she says authorities have ordered a psychiatric evaluation rather than medical treatment.
"They are continuing to persecute me," Datashvili wrote. "The psychiatric examination is not about my health; it is about silencing and intimidating me. But I will not be intimidated."
Datashvili claims her past emotional struggles were tied to physical suffering following multiple surgeries in 2019, not to any mental health disorder. According to her, her emotional state during that time was a natural response to extreme pain.
"In 2019, I needed a second operation just four months after the first one," she said. "The emotional background they refer to was during an acute inflammatory period, not a mental illness. I still live with the consequences of those surgeries. My pain now is a direct result of being detained."
Datashvili also criticized what she sees as a broader effort by the government to suppress dissent through intimidation and institutional abuse.
"This affects everyone," she wrote. "If protests stop, we will all either be in prison or psychiatric hospitals. But the state machine cannot crush individuals or the people of Georgia."
Her message ended on a note of defiance and solidarity.
"Wherever I am, I will keep speaking the truth. This time, we will win gloriously."
