Several hundred Georgian citizens refused to accept electronic identity cards (ID cards) on religious grounds. The so-called paper ID cards had been issued until 2011, after which the system was fully replaced by electronic identification documents.

After the Georgian Dream coalition came to power in 2013, newly appointed Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani was presented with 30,000 signatures by members of the clergy. They claimed that “every step a person takes is recorded on the ID card — where you go during the day, where you move, what you buy, what you do, and so on — and without it, you can hardly live. The main human value — free will — is tainted because a person becomes controlled and zombified.”

Similar suspicions had already been voiced when Georgia first introduced electronic ID cards. In response, then–Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili issued a decree on July 14, 2011, removing the number series “666” — regarded by some as the “mark of the devil” — from the ID card numbering system.

A large protest against ID cards was held on April 21, 2013, in front of the Ministry of Justice in Tbilisi, with the participation of clergy, parishioners, and their supporters. Other demonstrations followed, such as on September 29 of the same year, when protesters gathered near the Houses of Justice in Tbilisi and Kutaisi demanding the issuance of alternative identity documents.

During a protest on December 3, 2013, strong winds damaged part of the Tbilisi House of Justice building, which Zaza Nanobashvili, a representative of the “Orthodox Assembly,” interpreted as a “sign.”

One of the last known demonstrations against ID cards took place on March 10, 2014, in front of the Government Administration building in Tbilisi, where participants announced plans to resume protests after the Great Lent.

On February 25, 2019, a constitutional lawsuit was filed with the Constitutional Court of Georgia seeking to legalize the issuance of alternative identity cards. However, in its June 4, 2020 ruling, the court rejected the claim. Nonetheless, a limited number of laminated ID cards continued to be issued to certain citizens for a restricted period.