Journalist Vakho Sanaya has become the first person to be charged for a third time by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with insulting a state political official, Mariam Kereselidze, a representative of the Hate Speech Department of Georgia’s MIA, told reporters. The court motion was based on the nature of the offense: “Since court decisions should not be merely formal, we deemed it necessary to petition for administrative detention,” she stated:
“After reviewing the previous court ruling, he published a new post that also contained offensive remarks. Therefore, we believe he ignored the court’s decision and demonstrated a readiness to continue unlawful behavior.
I would like to note that Mr. Vakhtang Sanaya fails to appear for court hearings, does not pay court-ordered fines, and continues to commit similar offenses alongside ongoing judicial proceedings. That is precisely why we deemed it necessary to petition for administrative detention…
This was an ironic and veiled form of insult, through which he disseminated these epithets himself. Therefore, such ‘distancing’ cannot be considered a circumstance excluding liability. When evaluating freedom of expression, it is not only the literal wording of the statement that matters, but also its purpose, context, and content. In our view, this was indeed an insulting statement, and the court agreed with this assessment,” noted the MIA representative.
As a reminder, earlier today the Tbilisi City Court sentenced journalist Vakho Sanaya to 14 days of administrative detention over a social media post concerning Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili and MP Vladimir Bozhadze. The ruling was issued by Judge Zviad Tsekvava. The request for a legal assessment of the publication was submitted by the Hate Speech Department established under the MIA.