How Georgia's Police Crushed Pro-EU Protests
AN AI-ASSISTED COMIC
Following Georgia's decision to halt EU accession talks, the streets of Tbilisi became a battleground between pro-European demonstrators and riot police. What emerged from these chaotic nights were disturbing accounts of systematic violence and abuse.
These are the testimonies of those who experienced police violence first hand, transformed into a digital comic with the help of AI.
How it all began
Story One
End of Story One
Story Two
End of Story Two
Epilogue
Do you want to know more?
These stories represent just a fraction of the accounts from Georgia's protests. Here's how I told it.
I created this comic with images generated in OpenAI and Google's Whisk platform. Most of the images in the prologue and epilogue are based on footage filmed by local journalists.
One of the most comprehensive compilations of police violence was produced by RFE/RL's Georgian Service. I took screenshots of over 70 images from these two reports (Report 1, Report 2).
Among other sources, I relied on reporting by other local outlets, Netgazeti and Formula TV. I also found additional footage in reports by BBC, Reuters and Sky News.
When it came to documented figures, this report by eleven Georgian civil society organisations proved invaluable. It is based on interviews with 117 individuals (of whom 90 reported experiencing police violence) and documents widespread torture, ill-treatment, restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, and targeting of journalists.
The images telling the stories of Giorgi Gamgebeli and Tornike Chelidze are based on their testimonies, which I recorded in August 2025.
For questions or comments about this work, you can reach me at sandrogvindadze@gmail.com or follow my work on LinkedIn.