On December 5, the government-affiliated media POSTV published an information card on Facebook, stating that a participant of the protest is using the effect of social media to appear as if they have been beaten. Similar posts, suggesting that the participants of the protest are using a bruise face filter to artificially escalate the situation, were also spread by the media Marshalpress (1,2,3) and Facebook users (1;2 )
The circulating posts are manipulative and give the impression that the protesters are artificially trying to create tension and are not actually injured. The author of the video with the bruise face filter has not stated anywhere that she is a participant of the protest, nor does she post content related to protests on her TikTok account. As for those injured during the protest, according to the Public Defender of Georgia, out of the 268 people visited in isolation centers and clinics, 191 indicate improper treatment, and 138 have visible injuries.
The video, in which a woman has bruises on her face using a TikTok filter, was posted by the user ekamindiashvili on TikTok on December 4. Nowhere in the video does she indicate that she is injured or that the injuries were sustained during a protest. It is visually obvious that a filter has been used; it is clear that an adhesive wound plaster is drawn on her nose and is not real. Additionally, the video indicates (in Russian) that the “Синяк” (Bruise) filter was used. The user recorded an additional video where she says that, since the use of the filter was very obvious, she is surprised that the video was actually perceived as real. She also noted that she has never claimed to have been injured at the protest and generally does not post content related to protests.
It is noteworthy that when switching to the filter, it is apparent that videos published with this filter are mostly posted by non-Georgian-speaking users. Furthermore, since the filter is obvious, it is easy to distinguish it from real injuries sustained during the protest.
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What do we know about those injured during the protest?
Protests across Georgia began after the ruling party, Georgian Dream, on November 28, announced the suspension of negotiations with the European Union. Many people were injured as a result of the break-up of the protests by law enforcement officers. According to the Public Defender of Georgia, from November 28 to December 5, the representatives of the Public Defender visited 268 people in isolation centers and clinics, of whom 191 indicated improper treatment, and 138 had visible injuries. According to the data published by the Ministry of Health, between November 29 and December 3, 162 people were transferred to medical institutions. Among them were 121 protest participants and 37 journalists (data: November 29, 30, December 1, 2, 3).
On the first night of the protest, at least 13 journalists became victims of physical violence, insult, and obstruction of their professional activities by law enforcement officers. While broadcasting live, a special forces officer beat Formula TV company’s journalist Guram Rogava, resulting in severe injuries. Rogava has fractures in his facial bones and a fracture of the arch of the seventh cervical vertebra.

21-year-old Aleksandre Tirkia was severely injured during one of the protests, presumably by a gas capsule hitting his face. Tirkia had an open wound on his scalp, fractures of the frontal bone and eye socket, and traumatic brain hemorrhages. As of December 4, he was in a medically induced coma.

Numerous footage has spread through social media and the media showing police violence against protest participants. For example, in a video released on November 30, two different special forces officers are seen kicking Zviad Maisashvili, who has fallen to the ground. Maisashvili states that by this moment he was already unconscious, as he had been struck by a police officer earlier, thrown to the ground, and then beaten by several police officers. He has a concussion, a broken nose and tooth, and facial injuries.

The Public Defender, Levan Ioseliani, states that intentional, severe violence by police officers aimed at punishment is torture. In the statement of the Public Defender, it is noted that the nature of the injuries excludes the possibility that the police are using proportional force against protest participants.
The Public Defender: “Severe injuries, in most cases, are sustained to the face, eyes, and head, which practically excludes even the possibility that the police, on each occasion, were using necessary, proportional force against them. The location, nature, and severity of the injuries create a credible impression that the police are using violent methods against citizens for the purpose of punishment.”
According to Levan Ioseliani, the use of such brutal methods of violence by the police against people is a crime, and their actions should not go unpunished.
The majority of those arrested speak about particularly brutal beatings, insults, and humiliation by law enforcement officers after they were transferred to minibuses. Citizens also report that the police take their personal belongings.

According to the Civil Society Foundation, most of those arrested on December 2 were brutally beaten and became victims of inhuman treatment.
The statement reads: “After prolonged, continuous beatings, blood was pooled inside the minibus. During this process, one of the beaten individuals had his raincoat filled with blood. The torture was overseen by an older man who controlled the process to ensure that no one died during the beating. Those taken out of the minibus were carried through a corridor of special forces, where they were each kicked in the face and back before being taken to the patrol police car.
Special forces officers were taking off the detainees’ shoes, and many of them were taken to medical facilities barefoot. The special forces were also taking mobile phones from the detainees and asking them to unlock the codes.”
Detainees transferred to medical facilities have bruises all over their bodies, injuries to the facial area – broken noses and jaws, concussions, multiple blood spots, and hematomas – and they have difficulty moving and speaking.
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