“Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are the last tools remaining in our hands, and it is impossible to destroy them,” declared Zurab Japaridze, leader of the Girchi – More Freedom party. He arrived at the Tbilisi City Court, where a hearing was underway in the case of activists administratively detained outside the Tbilisi Sakrebulo (city council) building.
“In this country, criticizing the government has always been the norm. Even if the government is good, you can still criticize it. This can never be eradicated. This country will not become Turkmenistan; Tbilisi will not become Ashgabat—that is out of the question.
If they detain people over one banner, another will appear. Thousands have already appeared. You cannot take that away from Georgians.
If we had a proper court, it would be examining precisely this. After all, it was about a poll on a banner, right? It read: ‘Bidzina — …? Yes/No.’ In Georgia, people express their attitude toward others using different words. ‘Bad’ or ‘good’ are too vague as assessments. They will say one thing about one person, another about someone else, and every word has its own meaning. Perhaps the authors were simply interested in how many people agree with that specific assessment. Apparently, many agree, otherwise no one would have been detained,” Japaridze said.
