Georgian Dream and opposition comment on the decision of the Court of Appeal against Nika Gvaramia

On November 2, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal left Nika Gvaramia, one of the founders and director of the Mtavari Arkhi television company, in prison.

The decision of the Court of Appeal was followed by responses from politicians. We offer the sides’ assessments on this issue.

Comments by representatives of the Georgian Dream
Mikhail Sarjveladze – Georgian Dream / Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Civil Integration: “What punishment will be chosen, what decision the court will make, this is a matter for the court, and we cannot dictate terms to the court here. As for the validity or invalidity of the verdict, the adequacy of the chosen punishment, etc., one can treat this differently, but nothing illegal happened, such that it was above the requirements of the law. Accordingly, I do not think that the argument presented by the opponents that we are dealing with politically motivated and other vicious phenomena, I believe that in reality it has no basis … They just say that this is not a good faith verdict, but in fact, they have no objective reasoning for this.”

David Matikashvili – Georgian Dream/First Deputy Chairman of the Legal Committee of the Parliament: “The court makes legal decisions, and the legal decision is within the framework of the law. Everything else is speculation and representation of a reality that does not really exist. There are no political prisoners in Georgia.”

Opposition comments
Khatia Dekanoidze – United National Movement: “Freedom for Nika (Gvaramia) is not only freedom for Nika, Nika’s freedom is very important for Georgia’s European integration, including the implementation of 12 points (EU recommendations), since Nika’s freedom is directly spelled out in the resolution of the European Parliament and it is also directly written in 12 points that Nika’s freedom is most important for the freedom of the media, therefore… I want to openly call on Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili to take responsibility in the direction of European integration…, use the pardon mechanism and for the sake of Nika Gvaramia’s freedom, yes, go for this step”.

Badri Japaridze – Lelo for Georgia: “Unfortunately, another step was taken to slow down the process of European integration of our country. The court, which fell into the clutches of the Georgian Dream, has long turned into an instrument of revenge on political opponents. I appeal to the President of Georgia with a request to use the right granted to her by the Constitution (pardon) and release Nika Gvaramia. This will be an important contribution of the president to the implementation of the 12 recommendations identified by the European Union for Georgia.”

Giorgi Vashadze – Agmashenebeli’s strategy: “Georgia has two choices – either to Russia or to Europe, our path lies in Europe. Therefore, on the way to Europe we have many trials, we will overcome all trials very quickly if we are united. We need pan-European unity, on the European flank, after which we will receive the status of a candidate, we will release Gvaramia as a political prisoner, Saakashvili will also be released as a political prisoner, this is the only way. There is no other alternative than unity… There will be no pardon, people, do not harbor this illusion, there will be no other decision in the Supreme Court, nothing will happen until they see the power of the great unity of the people.”

Giga Bokeria – European Georgia: “Despite the fact that we are all used to and have seen for years that political persecution is the declared tool of the Ivanishvili regime, Gvaramia’s case is outstanding even by this standard. It can be said that the task of today’s decision was a demonstration of strength, a demonstration of the course taken by the Ivanishvili regime. Therefore, if there are still decent, honest citizens who had any illusions that under this regime it is possible to put our country on the right path, return to the free world, solve the fundamental issues of democracy, everyone should destroy this illusion.”

Elene Khoshtaria – Droa: “This trial did not show us anything about the prospects of our country, the only thing we saw was that Nika Gvaramia continues to fight, and is much stronger than many people who are at large. Therefore, the main conclusions that we draw – the main conclusion is that you should not expect anything from this regime, that at some point they will soften, that the court will become like a court, that they really care (about something) . This is the Russian regime, and the only thing the Russian regime is doing is putting free people in prison… If we draw this conclusion, if we don’t get tired, Nika will also be released (to freedom), and, most importantly, what Nika (Gvaramia) is imprisoned for, so that we lived in a free country, so in no case should we give up … On the contrary, we must move forward, and not adapt, fight, resist, stop bickering with each other and liberate this country.