Tbilisi: When University of Georgia professor Gia Japaridze started receiving death threats from unknown people, she knew that her work with the opposition was not only dangerous, but could also lead to death.
The 50-year-old has campaigned against new “foreign influence” laws in the Caucasus, which target human rights groups and the media, and stopped a meeting with foreign ambassadors demanding sanctions against the government when he was attacked outside his home in Tbilisi.
“I was hit in the back, from both sides,” said Japaridze, who worked as a diplomat for 10 years before becoming active in the Georgian opposition.
“They started beating me with a heavy stick. I am 100% sure they will kill me.”
After lawmakers of the former Soviet republic introduced the “foreign influence” bill in April, activists, independent journalists and politicians who opposed the legislation have faced violence and threats for weeks.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has denied planning the attack, accusing the opposition of indifference.
But rights groups say the beatings by police and unidentified people are part of a targeted campaign to intimidate critics of the government.
At least six public servants have been attacked in the past two months, including Levan Habeshvili, head of Georgia’s main opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), who was beaten by police during mass demonstrations against the law.
“They were so angry, I don’t remember being beaten so much in my life,” Japaridze said of his attackers.
Georgian opposition fears violence now ‘out of control’
