The poster insulting the Patriarch serves to discredit the ongoing protests and is altered

In parallel to the protests, a photo of a poster insulting the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia spread virally on social media. The poster reads: “The Patriarch should lift his spotless a*s and come here”. Social media users in Georgia have linked the poster to the ongoing actions since 28 November (see posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) (archived link 1, 2, 3).

“Tell them that they are on the side of Judas and that they will not be forgiven for justifying this and standing next to these people!” – we read in one of the posts.

“When your 92‑year‑old Patriarch is being insulted, they use these slurs, while you stand aside and call yourself a Christian, are you not ashamed of yourself for allowing this?”, noted another post.

Based on the photo of this poster, the information also spread on Instagram and TikTok.

Thus, the photo of the aforementioned poster is being used to portray the protest participants as supporters of people fighting against Orthodoxy, which is aimed at discrediting the protest and its goals as a whole.

GeoFacts verified the photo of the poster circulating on social media. Using the Image Reverse Search tool, we found photos of the poster in question in posts published in 2019. Accordingly, it is not related to the protests that began in November 2024. Moreover, GeoFacts has found the person who is actually holding the banner, who confirmed that the text about the Patriarch on the banner has been edited.

How did we identify the person holding the banner?

The oldest social‑network post containing the photo dates back to 26 November 2019 (published in several posts (archived versions: 1, 2, 3).

Therefore, the photo has been circulating on social media since at least 2019.

In the 2019 posts, three young people appear on a photo holding religious icons with the portrait of Bidzina Ivanishvili, next to the photo in question. It is likely that the spread of the Ilia II‑related poster on 26 November 2019 was actually initiated by “Girchi” activists displaying the religious icons resembling Bidzina Ivanishvili on 25 November 2019. On that day, “Girchi” activists organized a protest performance at Ivanishvili’s residence, singing “I see a shepherd” (satirical song from a Soviet era Georgian film). Both photos from 2019 seem to be presented in the same context – as a step opposing the Church, Christianity, and the Patriarch – and both are connected to the 2019 protests.

However, unlike the “Girchi” performance, the information and photos from which has been published across many online media outlets (links: 1, 2, 3, 4), no photo of the poster with the insulting content toward the Patriarch appears on the news releases. Its existence can only be traced to individual social‑network posts. This raises suspicion that the poster may be entirely fabricated and used as a photo‑manipulation to deceive social‑media audiences.

Since the earliest accessible photo of the poster dates to 26 November 2019, it most probably was taken during the autumn‑2019 protests in front of the Georgian Parliament. The fact that the picture was taken on Rustaveli Avenue is evident from the building shown in the upper‑right corner of the photo, which is the Georgian National Museum of Fine Arts, located directly opposite the Parliament building.

Autumn protests of 2019 followed after the “Georgian Dream” blocked a bill that would introduce a proportional electoral system for the 2020 parliamentary elections. As a consequence, a protest in front of the Parliament started on November 14 and continued in the following days.

There are several signs in the photo that has been circulating on social media that we can pay attention to. In particular, the person holding the poster is wearing a denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up. This person is also wearing a dark-colored, closed T-shirt that covers their wrists and part of the palms of both hands. We can also observe the proportions of the poster itself. Although it is impossible to obtain a high-resolution version of the photo, the ring on the ring finger of the person holding the poster is still noticeable.

Taking these details into account, Geofacts examined the posters displayed by the protesters during the 2019 protests.

On November 15, 2019, a video collage was published on the Facebook account of TV “Formula”, showing one of the posters, which we can compare with the photo published on the social media. Specifically, the person holding the banner in the photo taken by TV “Formula” is also wearing a denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Under the jacket, they are wearing a dark T-shirt, and on the ring finger of their right hand, there is a shiny object, which is likely a ring. The photo published by the TV company shows that the inscription on the poster is actually addressed to Bidzina Ivanishvili: “Bidzina, if you are offended, come out” – we read on it.

Photo: A screenshot from a video collage by TV "Formula"

The call is addressed to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s special statement in which he noted that he remained in favor of switching to a proportional electoral system in 2020 and “sincerely regretted” that this had not been achieved.

A photo of this banner was also published by the online publication “Publica”. In the photo, a person wearing a denim jacket and dark clothing with long sleeves is holding the banner. In this photo, the banner also contains a call addressed to Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Photo: Photo published by Publica on November 14, 2019

On November 14, 2019, a banner addressing Bidzina Ivanishvili was also published by Netgazeti. The photo shows a young man holding the banner, but in front of him is a young woman wearing a denim jacket and a dark T-shirt. Presumably, this young woman was the one holding the banner about Bidzina Ivanishvili, the photo of which was later falsified using photo manipulation.

Photo: Image published by Netgazette on November 14, 2019

To clarify the details, Geofacts contacted the person marked in the photo in the Netgazeti post and determined that the young woman depicted in the photo is Ninia Pachkoria, who confirmed in correspondence with Geofacts that she is the one depicted in the photos of the fake banners circulating on social media, as well as in the photos of the TV Formula and Netgazeti. She also confirmed that the photo, which shows insults towards the Patriarch, is actually edited. The banner actually says: “Bidzina, if you are offended, come out.” She herself published a post on social media, where she once again noted that the photo, which is being used to discredit the rallies, is fake (archived link).

Additionally, the banner used for discrediting the protests show clear signs of photo manipulation, such as unnatural lighting/shadows, inconsistent colors across different parts of the poster, and other artifacts.

Photo: Unnatural difference between banner colors

In addition, the fact that the photo depicting a poster discrediting the protests on social media is a photo manipulation is also indicated by forensic tools such as Fake Image Detector which indicates that the image has either been generated by a computer or altered.

Conclusion

The claim that the poster with offensive content against Ilia II is related to the protests that began on November 28, 2024, is false. Photos of this poster have been found on social media since at least 2019. However, this banner published in the 2019 posts itself is also the result of photo manipulation and is faked. In fact, the poster, which was later faked, called not the Patriarch, but Bidzina Ivanishvili to come to the protest.