Georgian Dream continues to exert pressure on civil society organizations and human rights defenders. Georgian Dream fully controls the repressive apparatus in the country, and therefore uses various restrictive measures against the civil sector. In particular, it adopts laws aimed at restricting funding sources for civil society. Examples of such laws are: the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence passed in 2024 and the FARA Act passed in 2025, as well as the amendment to the Law on Grants, according to which, a donor organization must seek permission from the Georgian Government before issuing a grant in Georgia.

Along with the tightening of repressive legislation, the Georgian Dream propaganda is deliberately continuing its campaign to discredit civil activists, calling them foreign agents and traitors. The activities of independent organizations are portrayed as activities managed by foreigners or Georgian opposition parties. During 2024, the offices of a number of civil society organizations became the targets of organized attacks, including the office of the Democracy Research Institute, namely with offensive inscriptions and photos. Similar inscriptions were made near the house of the organization's founder, Ucha Nanuashvili and his parents. Phone calls containing threats of violence were also made. None of these cases has been investigated to this day, and not a single organizer or participant in the attack has been punished.

In addition to the informational propaganda attacks against civil society organizations and restrictions on funding, Georgian Dream further tightened its actions in recent months and began to use criminal prosecution mechanisms through the Prosecutor's Office. As part of the absurd investigations into sabotage and“coup d’état,” the accounts of several human rights organizations have been seized, and the payment of disproportionate fines imposed on citizens for participating in  protests has become more difficult. As part of the same investigations, searches are periodically conducted in the houses of various organizations and activists.

It is in this context that the attacks on the Democracy Research Institute and its director, Ucha Nanuashvili, were carried out. The falsified and propaganda TV story aired by the First Channel of Russia, about Ucha Nanuashvili creating informal groups and organizing the Maidan, was quickly used by the Georgian Dream propaganda. In fact, the conversation with Russian prankster journalists concerned the attacks on protesters by masked individuals in Tbilisi in November-December 2024, which did not result in a response from law enforcement agencies or an effective investigation.

The Georgian Dream leaders, without verifying the facts, completely “blindly” repeated the recordings of a falsified conversation prepared by a television station controlled by the Putin regime. The Georgian Dream MPs openly demanded the launch of an investigation against Ucha Nanuashvili. In particular, Irakli Zarkua noted: “There is a reasonable suspicion that we are dealing with a crime, treason and conspiracy against the state. The relevant agencies should get interested in the content of the video call of these people.”

According to Georgian Dream MP Eka Sepashvili: “This person (Nanuashvili) has voiced the kind of  information that several criminal cases may be launched. According to him, it turns out that there are private individuals who work in security services and are ready to fire a weapon at the right time and harm or take away a person’s life. This is very important information and, in my opinion, the relevant services should get interested.”

Tbilisi Mayor and Georgian Dream Secretary General Kakha Kaladze also responded to the falsified video: “Yesterday’s video recording is yet another proof that these traitors are directly involved in the topic of overthrowing the state, directly carrying out orders and tasks from outside. They have neither a homeland nor their own family. They directly represent agents’ network and are ruled from outside.”

According to Archil Gorduladze, an MP from the Georgian Dream party: “Salome Zurabishvili unwittingly said in the recording that it was unthinkable to change the Government peacefully in the country and that they needed funds for this, and Ucha Nanuashvili’s words were also about violent groups. They should answer what they needed the funds received from foreign forces for.”

The assessment of Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the majority of the Georgian Dream: “Starting from financing, were not we talking about this? That they tried to create groups?! Now it has become clearer what we are really dealing with. They [the opposition] are in complete agony for one main reason – in reality, this was not a sincere protest. Maybe someone was deceived and protested sincerely, believing that he woke up in Chelyabinsk, but in reality, the degree of protest and the mood became directly proportional to the inflow of money.”

The statement by Georgian Dream Vice-Speaker Giorgi Volski: “We know from the past experience that not a single tetri, not a single cent of the money they received has been spent for good. This is an absolutely treacherous plan that could not be implemented because it was simply ridiculed.”

The fact is that completely identical narratives have been developed by the Russian propaganda television, representatives of Georgian Dream and Georgian media outlets under their control. Against the backdrop of active civil protests, Georgian Dream is intensifying repression, while Russia is clearly providing them with propaganda assistance against the Georgian civil society.