Elene Khoshtaria Detained Over Damage to Tbilisi Mayor's Campaign Banner
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of the opposition bloc Coalition for Change and head of the party Droa, was detained on Monday after law enforcement officers took her from her home.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has opened a case under Article 187 of the Criminal Code, which addresses damage or destruction of property. The charges stem from an incident on September 14, when Khoshtaria wrote "Russian Dream" on a campaign banner of Tbilisi Mayor and ruling Georgian Dream mayoral candidate Kakha Kaladze. Khoshtaria herself shared video footage of the act on social media, saying she was expressing solidarity with activist Megi Diasamidze, who was detained days earlier for damaging another Kaladze banner.
In a letter circulated on social media by Droa, Khoshtaria rejected the charges. "They invented [a rule] that an inscription on a banner is a crime - yes, we must show that we will not obey their fabricated illegalities," she wrote. She added that the opposition movement is built on unity. "Second, our struggle rests on solidarity. Every citizen, every activist, every fighter must know that we will not leave anyone alone against the system. They tried to crush Megi, but we will not hand her over. Until the very end!"
Khoshtaria also invoked the experiences of previous detainees, arguing that truth and dignity should never be compromised. "Even the slightest concession of truth, dignity, and freedom to this malevolent system is unacceptable," she wrote.
The arrest drew swift reactions from opposition leaders. Giga Bokeria, chairman of the Federalists party, called it a "shameless example of double standards." He said, "For years, Ivanishvili's regime, directly or indirectly, organized not just symbolic protests and damage to the banners or the exterior of opponents' offices, but violent attacks, and no one was ever punished for it. At most someone would be fined administratively. In the case of Megi Diasamidze, they escalated everything into criminal prosecution because it was directed against them, and now they are doing the same in Elene Khoshtaria's case."
Salome Samadashvili, a leader of Lelo - Strong Georgia, described the detention as evidence of growing repression. "For this regime, Kaladze's banner is far more important than people's lives and health, because the violent attackers from Kaladze's headquarters, who assaulted people just a few days ago, remain unpunished. Yet for damaging a poster with Kaladze's face on it, a second person has now been arrested - this time, a politician," she said. Samadashvili added that the ruling party is "frightened and terrified" and urged the public not to allow Kaladze to secure a third term as Tbilisi mayor.
Kaladze, for his part, dismissed the opposition leader's actions. "These people are of no interest to anyone, so they try to remind the country's population of themselves through crimes," he said. "It's clear that these people are irrelevant. They are off the agenda. Neither their daily actions nor the activities they carry out with those radicals matter to anyone. Therefore, they want to remind the country's population of themselves through crimes. There is specific footage of law violations, and every case will be met with an appropriate response."
