Following a seven-year court hearing, which began in 2018 after the dissemination of information against Zviad Devdariani that was damaging to his honor, dignity and business reputation, the court published its decision on May 19, 2025. The decision confirms that the defendants: Tamar Chergoleishvili, Ida Bakhturidze, Babutsa Pataraia and Tamar Kurashvili-Sanaia, disseminated defamatory information against Zviad Devdariani, which they were ordered to retract in the same form and medium through which it was originally disseminated in 2018.

For years, Zviad Devdariani was the founder and director of prominent civil society organizations – "CiDA", which worked on the development of civil society, the improvement of economic and social opportunities of eco-migrants, former prisoners, women, emigrants, and people living in rural areas. Zviad Devdariani and his organization maintained a strong reputation among both local and international partners.

On March 16, 2018, a campaign based on false information against Zviad Devdariani was launched - right after his nomination by the Public Defender, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster. This was followed by a defamatory campaign initiated by the "Women's Movement" and activists.

In response to the statement of the "Women's Movement", Zviad Devdariani's former colleagues released a statement denying the allegations that had been deliberately circulated in order to damage the honor and dignity of Zviad Devdariani.

The Facebook-based court conducted through the social network, which was based on false information, without any evidence, portrayed Zviad Devdariani as guilty, damaged his honor and dignity, and destroyed his business reputation. Zviad Devdariani was forced to withdraw his candidacy from the Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster and resign from the position as Executive Director of the non-governmental organization "CiDA", which, shortly after that, ceased to exist-which was also one of the goals of this campaign.

The only way that Zviad Devdariani turned to defend his violated rights was through the court, where the case was reviewed for 7 years. Finally, in accordance with the decision announced on May 19, 2025 by Judge Aleksandre Gzirishvili of the Civil Affairs Panel of the Tbilisi City Court, it was determined that Tamar Chergoleishvili, Ida Bakhturidze, Babutsa Pataraia and Tamar Kurashvili-Sanaia disseminated information against Zviad Devdariani containing fundamentally false claims and causing harm to the plaintiff, damaging his reputation, and defaming his honor and dignity:

1. Tamar Chergoleishvili was ordered to retract the statement made on her personal Facebook page — “Devdariani harasses women” — which contained fundamentally false claims about Zviad Devdariani, was harmful to the plaintiff, defamatory, and damaging to his honor and dignity. She was further ordered to publish a notice regarding the court’s ruling on defamation, in the exact form determined by the court, through the same medium and in the same manner in which the original statement was made.
2. Ida Bakhturidze was ordered to retract the statement — “Zviad Devdariani harassed women” — which contained fundamentally false claims about Zviad Devdariani, was harmful to the plaintiff, defamatory, and damaging to his honor and dignity. She was also required to publish a notice regarding the court’s ruling on defamation in the same form and via the same medium as the original dissemination, specifically in the “Imedis Kvira” program on TV Imedi.
3. Babutsa Pataraia was ordered to retract two defamatory statements: I. “Zviad Devdariani abused his professional power and in certain cases subjected women to psychological and physical violence” II. “Zviad Devdariani is an abuser” These statements were deemed to contain fundamentally false claims, harmful to the plaintiff, and damaging to his reputation, honor, and dignity. She was also ordered to publish a notice regarding the court’s ruling on defamation in the same form and through the same channels as the original dissemination, specifically on her personal Facebook page and in the online magazine Tabula.
4. Tamar Kurashvili-Sanaia was ordered to retract the statement — “Zviad Devdariani is a violent man” — which contained fundamentally false claims, was harmful to the plaintiff, and defamatory to his name, honor, and dignity. She was also ordered to publish a notice regarding the court’s ruling in the same form and via the same medium, namely, on her personal Facebook page.

As part of the case under consideration, the judge assessed the recommendation issued by the Public Defender, Nino Lomjaria, on November 1, 2018 and concluded that the evidence on which the Public Defender based the recommendation did not substantiate the accuracy of the defendants' public statements. Namely, the fact of sexual harassment established by the issued recommendation does not establish an indisputable presumption of the allegation’s validity, and no other relevant and credible evidence has been presented in the case that the plaintiff actually committed the actions in relation to which the disputed statements are spread by the defendants.

The court found that “the statements disseminated by the defendants cannot be considered their opinion, reasoning or expression of attitude towards the plaintiff’s personality, an event or a subject, since the facts indicated in the claim contain a verifiable fact and the accuracy of the content of these statements could have been clarified/verified by those who disseminated them, which they failed to do. Accordingly, the defendants disseminated statements about the plaintiff that contained fundamentally false facts and causing harm to the plaintiff, damaging the plaintiff’s reputation, and defaming his honor and dignity.”

The aforementioned decision of the Tbilisi City Court is precedent-setting and emphasizes the obligation of Georgian citizens, especially persons involved in politics, activists, journalists and public figures to protect the right to honor and dignity guaranteed by the Constitution, not to disseminate false information and to take responsibility for the accuracy of the information disseminated; To clearly distinguish between opinion and fact and not to disseminate information that is offensive to the honor and dignity of others in such a way that the assertion of a fact is disguised as the right to express an opinion.

In accordance with Georgian legislation, legal procedures continue in a higher instance court.

We have been very careful and responsible and during these years, without necessity, we have not disseminated information related to the case through the media or social networks. Despite the fact that the court accepted our arguments and determined that the defendants disseminated defamatory information as part of the campaign against Zviad Devdariani, we once again approached the issue of coverage with high responsibility did not widely publicize this decision. However, after hearing the resolution part of the court's decision, the defendants, their legal representatives and media representatives associated with them once again attempted to misinterpret the decision and mislead the public. Therefore, considering the significant public interest in this case, we found it appropriate to inform the public about the current legal dispute.

Zviad Devdariani's lawyers

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