The U.S. Helsinki Commission declares that the Georgian government is attacking everyone who dares to fight for democracy, citing the detention of Giorgi Bachiashvili, former head of the Co-Investment Fund, as one example.

“After 200 days of continuous peaceful protests, Georgia’s de facto government is attacking anyone who dares to fight for democracy. This is yet another example,” the Helsinki Commission stated, responding to a post by U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Senator Jeanne Shaheen on social media.

“The Georgian Dream government must immediately release all political prisoners,” the statement reads.

For context, Senator Jeanne Shaheen wrote on the social platform X that the tactics of the Georgian Dream are becoming increasingly “despicable” and that reports of the “abduction” of Giorgi Bachiashvili, former head of the Co-Investment Fund, are “a blow to democracy.”