On December 3, 2024, two groups of students and faculty members clashed on the campus of Batumi Arts Teacher University in connection with the hanging of a protest banner on a university building.

This incident occurred amid ongoing nationwide demonstrations against the government, in which students played a key role. The students who hung the banner – Giorgi Davitadze, Andro Kakabadze, David Gianidze, and Guram Mikeladze – have been active in the movement.

The clash occurred after a university lecturer, Tea Tsaguria, objected to the four students hanging their protest banner. The dean of the Faculty of Fine, Performing, and Film and Television Arts, Mamuka Jorbenadze, intervened to defend the students, prompting a verbal argument between the parties. The fight escalated into a physical confrontation after Tsaguria called her husband, a senior official at Batumi City Hall and deputy director of the Municipal Service Development Agency, to intervene. Both groups accused the other of physical assault.

On December 9, police arrested and detained Jorbenadze and the four students who hung the banner, charging them with group violence. On January 28, 2025, a judge released Jorbenadze and three of the students on bail; the fourth student remained imprisoned because he had a previous conviction.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about attacks on members of an academic community by other members of that academic community. Students and faculty must refrain from violence, especially on campus, and also respect the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and harm related higher education values including autonomy and social responsibility.

Sources:
https://jam-news.net/arrest-of-professor-and-four-students-in-batumi-over-pro-european-protests/
https://tvpirveli.ge/ka/siaxleebi/sazogadoeba/93976-mosamartle-kolbaiam-pianisti-anri-kakabadze-patimrobashi-datova
https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/137190-batumi-city-court-releases-dean-of-university-of-arts-and-3-students-on-bail-leave-one-student-in-custody/
https://nachtkritik.de/international/asien/theaterbrief-aus-georgien/letter-from-georgia-director-data-tavasde-about-the-mass-protests-in-tblisi-and-other-georgian-cities
https://sakartvelosambebi.ge/en/news/dean-of-university-of-arts-and-4-students-arrested-in-batumi
https://artistsrights.iti-germany.de/georgia-update/