World

In Post-Soviet Georgia, a Fledgling Libertarian Movement Faces an Increasingly Authoritarian State

As leader of the “Girchi—More Freedom” party, Zurah Japaridze spent 7 months jailed as a political prisoner. He’s prepared to spend much longer there if he has to.

Hunt Beaty | 8.9.2026 8:00 AM

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(Illustration: zurabjaparidze/Instagram/Girchi)

"This fight against Soviet totalitarianism, and now this fight against Russian influences in this country: This is my life," says Georgian opposition leader Zurab Japaridze.

Japaridze is the founder of one of the few explicitly libertarian political parties in a post-Soviet state, — 'Girchi' (which means 'pine cone') — 'More Freedom.'

And in June 2025, he was sentenced to 7 months in Rustavi prison for defying a parliamentary commission run by the ruling party, Georgian Dream. Japaridze was not a part of the United National Movement (UNM) government ostensibly being investigated by the commission, yet he still landed in pretrial detention. He refused on principle to mount a defense.

In a Facebook post, former President Salome Zourabichvili said that Japaridze's "detention is shameful. It has no connection whatsoever with justice. This is a purely political case." She then accused the commission of existing solely "to create a means to arrest exactly those political leaders they want to see in prison."

Georgians across the country have now spent well over 500 consecutive days protesting the ruling party since elections were last held on October 26, 2024. Those elections raised eyebrows both in Tbilisi and across the western world. 

A prominent global NGO, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, has alleged "serious procedural inconsistencies" in the election. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian NGO specializing in election monitoring, produced a report chronicling "numerous problematic incidents and violations" observed countrywide, including instances of multiple voting, ballot stuffing, voter bribery, physical violence, and threats.

In the wake of the controversy, authorities connected to the Georgian Dream party arrested peaceful protesters and independent journalists, froze bank accounts of several........

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