Introduction
In the Soviet era, it was very common to use psychiatry for political purposes, more specifically, to silence people who were actively opposing the authoritarian regimes (European Parliament, 2013). Someone once said that history likes to repeat itself, and maybe that is the reason why using psychiatry as a tool of suppression is now becoming popular in post-Soviet countries, like Russia and Georgia.
Authoritarian or totalitarian regimes always liked to use psychiatry as a weapon; more specifically, these regimes use psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, and detention to obstruct the fundamental human rights of certain individuals, especially those who oppose the government (European Parliament, 2013). Historically, the use of psychiatry as a weapon in the USSR started in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Reportedly, the political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union became one of the main methods of repression in the 1960s. During that decade, a lot of dissidents were diagnosed as being mentally ill. As a result, Soviet psychiatry had become a deformed branch of medicine that mostly focused on separating persons with mental illness from society and keeping them under constant control. Many people, including dissidents, spent years or decades in mental institutions, heavily drugged and treated with different substances (European Parliament, 2013).
Even though the Soviet Union does not exist anymore, in some former Soviet republics, individual cases of political abuse of psychiatry continue to take place, and the number has increased over the past few years (The Moscow Times, 2024). According to the Moscow Times, an increasing number of Russian political activists and prisoners are placed in forced psychiatric treatment. This number is increasing every single year. Reportedly, after the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia sent more than 50 people to forced psychiatric treatment. For example, one of the youngest political activists was only 19 years old when he was sent to forced treatment. He was charged over a Telegram post calling for protests on the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, and then he was arrested and transferred from a pre-trial detention centre to a psychiatric hospital. The authoritative regimes also do not “discriminate” based on sex, because there are a lot of female political prisoners in Russia, some of whom are sent to psychiatric facilities.
Although there is a lot to say about Russia and its oppressive methods, this article is about Georgia, another post-Soviet country, which was very close to joining the European Union but is now going back to Soviet tactics.
What’s Happening in Georgia?
Not only now, but for decades, people in Georgia have been trying to speak out against the government, against different presidents or prime ministers, and against authoritarian regimes. In response, the different governments have used and are still using different methods to silence the dissent.
When we are talking about using psychiatry as a weapon to silence or punish people, one name comes to my mind- Nazi Shamanauri.
Nazi Shamanauri was a journalist, a dissident who was placed in a psychiatric facility along with her mother for her criticism of the Soviet authorities (Chaikhana, 2020). She was writing a diary in the facility, where she described how she was tortured there. For the communist regime, she was “paranoid”. She died after four months of being in the facility. Later, when her diary was released, people could read the horrific stories and the inhumane treatment that she had to go through. There are very few articles describing her life, the time spent in the facility, or the cause of death in English, but they are enough to draw the connection between the case of Nazi Shamanauri in the 90s and the case of Nino Datashvili in 2025.
Currently, there are more than 60 political prisoners in Georgia, of whom two are women. One of them, Mzia Amaghlobeli, has recently been sentenced to two years in prison (RFE/RL, 2025); another one is Nino Datashvili. Nino Datashvili was arrested on June 20th, 2025, nine days after the Interior Ministry launched a criminal investigation against her for allegedly assaulting a civil servant during a June 9th incident at Tbilisi City Court (Civil, 2025). What happened in reality was that there was a court hearing at Tbilisi City Court, where Nino Datashili was forcibly removed from the building by several bailiffs. The footage from the court shows that those bailiffs were dragging her out, she was trying to free herself and was screaming, “let me go, it hurts”. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry claims that Nino Datashvili “did not comply with the bailiff officers and physically assaulted one of them” after being told that she could not enter the courtroom because there was no space there (Civil, 2025). At the first hearing, on June 21st, 2025 the prosecutors argued that one of the bailiffs experienced physical pain, therefore, they requested pretrial detention so Nino Datashvili could not repeat the alleged crime. She is facing four to seven years in prison.
Apparently, it was not enough to arrest a woman based on the non-existent evidence; the court later decided to authorise the forced transfer of Nino Datashvili to a psychiatric facility for examination based on the prosecutor’s request. The request was based on 2019 medical records submitted by the defence, which indicated “emotional lability” as a symptom connected with a serious and painful spinal condition (OC Media, 2025). The prosecutor’s office of Georgia says that their request is based on the medical records submitted by the defence, and they claim that psychiatric evaluations are routinely ordered in such cases, but human rights activists in Georgia state that this examination was ordered without sufficient evidence (OC Media, 2025).
There is a huge similarity between the cases of Nazi Shamanauri and Nino Datashvili, as both women are being forcibly institutionalised over their outspoken criticism of local policies.
This is a very scary decision, not only because the Georgian government is using the Soviet-era methods to fight against criticism, but also because the Georgian government is violating all the international obligations it has to defend human rights in Georgia.
Human Rights Violations
Just like the other cases of political prisoners, the case of Nino Datashvili is not just about one woman who “deserves” to be in prison. It is about fear and control, and how the Georgian government attempts to revive and adapt the old Soviet methods in new ways. The forced psychiatric evaluation of Nino Datashvili is not only the repetition of post-Soviet practices, but it also violates international human rights standards.
Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person, and no one shall be deprived of their liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established by law. Therefore, this provision explicitly prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention, and any deprivation of liberty, whether in prison or any other institution, including psychiatric facilities, should not be arbitrary. In Nino Davitashvili’s case, the prosecutor made the decision to send her to the psychiatric facility based on the outdated and vague medical document from 2019, which said that she had “emotional lability” resulting from her spinal problems. However, this term cannot justify her forced hospitalisation. The psychiatric evaluation should be based at least on the latest medical records and should not be used as a punishment. Moreover, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has stated that “involuntary treatment and other psychiatric interventions in health-care facilities are forms of torture and ill-treatment” (UN General Assembly, 2013).
Secondly, it can be said that the right to a fair trial is also under threat. Article 14 of the ICCPR states that everyone has the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal. By subjecting her to a psychiatric evaluation without solid evidence, it can be seen as the prosecutor’s attempt to discredit her and hinder her legal defence. It also aims to send a threatening message to other activists, saying that everyone who tries to speak up against the regime could be labelled as mentally ill.
Moreover, according to Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), everyone should enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. In addition, principle 1 of the UN principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental healthcare says that all persons have the right to the best available mental health care, which shall be part of the health and social care system. However, it also emphasises autonomy and informed consent in medical treatment, including psychiatric care. For example, principle 11 of the same document states that no treatment shall be given to a patient without his or her informed consent. Forced institutionalisation without consent could violate these principles, especially when it is used for political reasons rather than genuine health concerns.
Lastly, Georgia is also legally bound by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The government’s decision to send her to the psychiatric facility for evaluation could potentially violate several articles of the convention. For example, Article 3, which states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, could be violated. Not only Article 3, but also the right to liberty and security (Article 5) and the right to private life (Article 8) could be violated by the Georgian government.
The forced institutionalisation without transparent procedures and medical evidence will damage the rule of law in Georgia, which is already under a huge threat. It can also set a very dangerous precedent if they really send her to the facility, anyone can be the next.
Conclusion
Since November 2024, when the Georgian government announced that they are suspending EU accession talks until the end of 2028 , they have done a lot of things to step away from the EU and get closer to Russia, including arresting civil activists, journalists and anyone who dares to speak up against them, beating up the protesters and using brutal methods to silence the dissent (euronews, 2024). But this is new.
This is the first case since the 90s when the government is using mental health as a weapon, to send a political prisoner, a person who dared to speak up against the government, to the psychiatric facility and to scare people, make them believe that anyone who goes against the government is mentally ill, and no one should listen to them.
With the recent statements and new legislation, the Georgian government is very far away from joining the EU, but the scariest thing is that they are getting very close to Russia and their tactics of silencing the dissent.
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