Activist Nino Datashvili, confined, protests psychiatric evaluation: "Such treatment is inhumane - I won't submit to silencing"
Georgian Activist Nino Datashvili Faces Controversial Psychiatric Evaluation
Nino Datashvili, a Georgian activist who has been detained since June 20, 2025, is currently undergoing a controversial psychiatric evaluation. This evaluation comes amid allegations of unlawful persecution and inhumane treatment, with human rights defenders claiming it is a politically motivated attempt to discredit and suppress government critics.
Datashvili is detained on charges of assaulting a public official during a June 9 protest, punishable by up to seven years in prison under Georgian law. Despite her severe spinal pain, the court authorized a 20-day forced psychiatric evaluation for her at the prosecutor’s request, citing her 2019 medical records showing emotional instability linked to her spinal condition. However, Datashvili and human rights lawyers argue that this does not justify forced psychiatric confinement and view it as a tactic to silence activism.
The evaluation procedure has raised concerns. Instead of a transfer to a psychiatric hospital, Datashvili was unexpectedly evaluated via interview in her prison cell, reportedly without her consent and while she was anticipating forced transfer. She protested the violation of her rights during the hearing.
The move has drawn condemnation from human rights groups, mental health professionals, and the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia, which is actively monitoring her health and rights situation in detention. These entities consider the forced psychiatric evaluation and conditions in detention to potentially constitute inhumane treatment.
Datashvili, in a recent message, expressed her determination to resist the authorities' actions against her. She insisted that the examination is a tactic of intimidation and urged collective resistance against the authorities. She also emphasized that the authorities cannot intimidate her and declared that she will continue to stand for the truth.
Datashvili's message suggests a sense of solidarity with the wider public. She compared her situation to a wider issue that concerns everyone and declared that the system cannot crush individuals or the people of Georgia. She thanked the public for their continued support and ended her message on a hopeful note, declaring that this is a struggle against the state machine.
In her letter to the Prosecutor's Office, Datashvili made it clear that she needs treatment for her worsening condition, not a psychiatric examination. She also compared her emotional episodes in the past to temporary responses to extreme physical distress, not chronic conditions.
If protests are silenced, Datashvili believes everyone may end up in prison or psychiatric hospitals. She expressed confidence that they will win gloriously this time and compared her case to a struggle against the state machine.
Critics accuse Georgian authorities and the Prosecutor’s Office of misusing psychiatry as a tool of political repression to target dissenters, a practice reminiscent of Soviet punitive psychiatry, used to marginalize activists and human rights defenders.
[1] Human Rights Watch, "Georgia: Activist Detained, Faces Psychiatric Evaluation," June 25, 2025. [2] Amnesty International, "Urgent Action: Georgian Activist Nino Datashvili Faces Forced Psychiatric Evaluation," June 24, 2025. [3] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "Georgian Activist Nino Datashvili Faces Forced Psychiatric Examination," June 25, 2025. [4] Civil Georgia, "Public Defender Concerned Over Nino Datashvili’s Health Condition in Detention," June 23, 2025. [5] Georgian Times, "Human Rights Groups Condemn Forced Psychiatric Evaluation of Nino Datashvili," June 24, 2025.
- The controversial psychiatric evaluation of Georgian activist Nino Datashvili is being seen as a tool of political repression, reminiscent of Soviet punitive psychiatry, which was used to marginalize activists and human rights defenders.
- Mental health professionals are expressing their concern over the forced psychiatric evaluation of Datashvili, arguing that it does not justify forced psychiatric confinement and may amount to inhumane treatment.
- Womens' health and human rights groups are actively monitoring Datashvili's health and rights situation in detention, considering the forced psychiatric evaluation and conditions in detention to potentially constitute inhumane treatment.
- Datashvili's struggle against forced psychiatric evaluation and unlawful persecution is being compared to a wider issue that concerns everyone, a struggle against the state machine, and she urges collective resistance against the authorities.
