According to the Democracy Research Institute, the use of force and the detention of participants in a peaceful protest outside the Tbilisi City Assembly (Sakrebulo) without any explanation constitute a continuation of the repressive practices characteristic of authoritarian rule, where state power is used as an instrument to suppress citizens' fundamental rights.

At approximately 22:30 on 26 July, the police detained more than ten individuals outside the City Assembly building because of a banner and chants directed at Bidzina Ivanishvili. This was preceded by the detention of Tornike Tokhshua, who had been standing silently holding a banner. Video footage published of the incidents shows that, in neither case, were there grounds for the detention. Furthermore, during the arrests, citizens could be heard asking under which legal provision and on what legal basis the protesters were being detained, to which law enforcement officers responded with silence. Under the applicable legislation, when carrying out an administrative detention, the detaining officer is required to immediately inform the detainee, in a comprehensible manner, of, among other things, the administrative offence they are alleged to have committed, the grounds for the detention, and their right to a lawyer.

According to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (Novikova and Others v. Russia; Peradze and Others v. Georgia), the detention of participants in a peaceful protest solely because of the manner in which they express themselves, a banner, or slogans constitutes an extreme interference with the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, which is permissible only in strictly defined circumstances, pursuing a legitimate aim and meeting the requirement of proportionality. In Peradze and Others v. Georgia, the Court specifically noted that detaining protesters solely because of an offensive slogan displayed on a banner or used during a demonstration, in the absence of violence or a genuine threat to public order, is incompatible with the requirements of a democratic society.

In the organisation's assessment, the purpose of the law enforcement authorities in detaining the protesters was not to maintain public order, but rather to suppress critical opinion altogether. In recent years, the use of such methods has become an entrenched and pernicious practice, which is particularly alarming in the context of captured state institutions.