In Georgia, publishers and writers protest against “stolen elections”

Georgian publishers and writers held a peaceful protest against the results of the October 26 parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party “Georgian Dream” won with 54% of the votes. 

“We read books about dictatorship and wanted to leave them with the police at the end, but they refused our gifts,” noted Gvantsa Jobava, the head of international affairs at publishing house Intelekti and IPA president, on her Facebook page. 

Among the books protesters read during the demonstration were Georgian books and translations into Georgian language: 

• “The Feast of the Goat” by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa; 
• “1984” by English author George Orwell; 
• “The Autumn of the Patriarch” by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez; 
• “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future” by Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa; 
• “Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World” by American historian, writer, and journalist Anne Applebaum; 
• “100 Stories About Ambrosi Khelaia” by Georgian historians Gela (Giorgi) Saitidze and Gocha Saitidze; 
• “April 14, 1978” by Kartvelian author Anna Bakanidze. 

As reported earlier, parliamentary elections took place in Georgia on October 26. 

The ruling “Georgian Dream” party officially won nearly 54% of the vote. Four opposition parties also passed the 5% threshold but refused to recognize the results or join the parliament. On October 27, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili refused to acknowledge the election results and announced a protest. Prior to the elections, Georgia’s largest publishing house, Sulakauri Publishing, decided to display only George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” in bookstore windows to draw attention to the election process. 

In June 2024, a law identical to Russia’s “Foreign Influence Transparency Act” officially came into effect in Georgia after it was signed by the parliamentary speaker, bypassing a veto from President Salome Zourabichvili. The law has been challenged by 121 non-governmental and media organizations, which filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court to suspend the provisions concerning “foreign agents.”

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Copy editing: Joy Tataryn