Against the backdrop of a series of arrests of Georgian opposition figures, the UK Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty has called on official Tbilisi to release "all political prisoners".
He is convinced that the arrest of opposition leaders for failing to appear at a meeting of the parliamentary commission investigating the alleged crimes of the previous authorities is "an outrageous move to block competitors in the elections" [of local government].
"Georgian Dream" must stop suppressing dissent and release all political prisoners," Doughty wrote.
UK MP James McCleary also expressed his condemnation of the Georgian authorities. The statement concerned, in particular, today's arrest of Giorgi Vashadze.
"As a UK MP, I condemn the arrest of my friend Giorgi Vashadze. I was due to meet him next week. I will write to the Foreign Secretary demanding an immediate response. All political prisoners in Georgia must be released – the UK must immediately sanction Ivanishvili and his corrupt government,” McCleary emphasizes.
European Commission spokesperson Anita Hipper, in turn, assessed the arrest of opposition members in Georgia as “authoritarian tactics,” stressing that this directly contradicts “what is expected of an EU candidate country.”
“Georgian Dream” must stop turning the justice system into a weapon,” Hipper concluded.
PACE Vice-President and German Bundestag member of parliament Knut Abraham calls on the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to act immediately regarding Georgia, “if we do not want to end up with a second Belarus in the Caucasus.” According to him, the arrests of opposition members, public intimidation, violence against protesters and mass detentions "sound very familiar" and "we can learn from our mistakes"
The country's fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, finds the state of the Georgian Dream paranoid, which, she is sure, is an indicator of "the final stage of such a regime." According to Zurabishvili, everything that is happening is a moment of upheaval, and we must be patient.
The politician suggested that she could also be summoned to the next meeting of the parliamentary commission investigating the activities of the previous authorities. This could take place before July 5, the day when the investigative body's term of office expires.
"I don't know, I can't give them any prescriptions; but I see that these are already the first signs of their weakening. What else they can do and what else might come to mind, I can neither imagine nor advise," Salome Zurabishvili said.
She also added that it was not possible to assemble a “resistance platform” on June 23, but opponents of the government will gather today, June 24, to determine a strategy for action.
“Now I can say that, in my opinion, there are only two paths: the first is to continue the protest in this peaceful form, there is no other form for me; and the second is the complete unity of the opposition in relation to one strategy, in everything,” Zurabishvili shared.
The Chairman of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, interpreted the statements of Western leaders as a “series of attacks.”
“Yesterday we witnessed a whole series of attacks on the Georgian state from Brussels, which, unfortunately, has turned into an alarming trend lately,” he wrote on his social media page.
He noted that such a reaction from the West is particularly worrying given that propaganda, the undermining of democratic institutions, and politically motivated persecution are financed from the budget of the EU and some of its members.
"Instead of answering these legitimate and factual questions, the Georgian people are being subjected to politically motivated attacks, which is contrary to the stated values of the European Union," Papuashvili laments.
In two days, the Tbilisi City Court has sentenced four opposition leaders for refusing to testify before the temporary investigative commission of parliament. These are Zurab Girchi Japaridze (Coalition for Change, Girchi - More Freedom party), Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze (Strong Georgia coalition, Lelo party), and Giorgi Vashadze (Strategy Agmashenebeli). All of them received 7 to 8 months in prison. The maximum penalty for "failure to comply with the legal demands of the temporary investigative commission of parliament" (Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia) is imprisonment for up to one year.
In addition, in the coming days, sentences are expected under this article and for other "unwanted" politicians. It is noteworthy that almost none of the opposition representatives agreed to cooperate with the investigative body. Thus, almost all the main opponents of the ruling party will remain without leaders at least until the end of the year. In particular, the leaders of the "Coalition for Change" Nika Gvaramia and Nika Melia, as well as former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, are awaiting the court's verdict in the preliminary conclusion.
