Nuremberg for the movement: the process of banning the opposition has begun in Georgia
A special commission has been set up in the Georgian parliament to investigate the crimes of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and his team. It is expected that as a result, the country will hold a "Nuremberg trial" over the opposition, and opponents of the ruling party will be banned. "Izvestia" dealt with the situation.
Crimes and punishment
The Georgian authorities started talking about organizing a "Nuremberg trial" over former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the political forces that are in one way or another associated with him - that is, in fact, over most of the opposition as early as last year. "We will start a judicial process that will result in the banning of the United National Movement and all its satellites in the country," the ruling party's shadow leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili, promised in August.
Parliamentary and presidential elections followed, the country experienced a surge of protest activity, and in the new year the authorities returned to the idea. In January, Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said that between 2003 and 2012, the radical opposition was in power and committed many crimes. "Now these forces are openly opposing national interests, if they return to power, they will again engage in criminal activities with tripled energy," he said.
View of the parliament building in Tbilisi
Mdinaradze also stated that young people due to their age do not know anything about the deeds of the previous authorities, and many adults have simply forgotten. According to him, the society should be reminded of all this to prevent repetition. "It was thanks to this approach, including the Nuremberg process and constant reminders of the regime's crimes that Germany defeated Nazism after World War II. This experience Georgia should adopt and put into practice," he emphasized.
In early February, the Georgian parliament voted in favor of creating a temporary investigative commission to assess Saakashvili's rule. The term of office of this body will be three months with the possibility of extension for another three months. According to the regulations, MPs will be able to summon any person, including officials of Saakashvili's time, to give testimony and explanations, and criminal liability will be imposed for refusal to cooperate. The commission's work will result in a report that will be approved at a parliamentary session and then handed over to the prosecutor's office.
On February 13, the first meeting of the new body was held, where technical issues were solved. It is known that the commission consists of eight deputies, two more seats are vacant, the head of the commission is Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Thea Tsulukiani. The commission members will focus on several issues, among them torture in Georgian prisons during Saakashvili's time, murders, racketeering, blackmail, violence, redistribution of property and the events of the 2008 five-day war.
"We have to take back our country."
The ruling party emphasizes that some representatives of the previous authorities have already been privately convicted and are in prison, among them Mikheil Saakashvili himself. Now it is a question of punishing political organizations as a whole. The ultimate goal is to recognize as unconstitutional and ban the largest opposition association United National Movement (UNM), as well as its allies and satellites, which the current authorities call a collective war party.
The opposition calls what is happening an intensification of repression and an attempt to divert people's attention from real problems, including rising prices and economic stagnation. "Ivanishvili's team wants to judge the political force that withdrew from power 13 years ago. I believe that this is another propaganda attempt to cover up their own crimes with the help of a new circus performance planned to be staged within the walls of the illegitimate parliament," said UNM leader Tina Bokuchava.
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
In parallel, the Georgian authorities are taking other measures against their opponents. Thus, in early February, the ruling party deprived 49 opposition MPs of their mandates and, therefore, of immunity. It is characteristic that a few days before this decision of the Georgian Dream, MPs Nika Melia and Gigi Ugulava were detained for participating in a protest action and attempting to block a strategic highway. Both of them were released, but now in case of another attempt they will have to answer to the full extent of the law.
In addition, the ruling party has adopted amendments to the administrative code, which toughen the responsibility for protest activities. Thus, under the article on petty hooliganism, which often appears in the cases of street activists, now faces a fine of up to 2,000 GEL (64,000 rubles), the amount used to be half as much, and the term of administrative arrest has been increased from 15 to 20 days. Disobedience to police officers is now punishable by a fine of up to GEL 5,000 and arrest for up to 60 days, whereas previously it was punishable by a fine of up to GEL 3,000 and arrest for 15 days.
In addition, in early February, the Georgian ruling party announced that in the next two months it would adopt a tougher version of the law on foreign agents, because the richest NGOs ignore the current version of the document. Mamuka Mdinaradze, a representative of the Georgian Dream, emphasized that the new version would be an exact copy of the similar American FARA law, which imposes not only a fine but also imprisonment for violators.
Finally, the ruling party said it will soon adopt a new media law that will set standards for journalistic ethics and objectivity, as well as limit foreign funding of publications and individual journalists. "We have to take back our country, start governing effectively. There were many loopholes in the legislation, now it is our duty to eliminate them as much as possible," Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on the occasion.
Trump is in mind
In general, Georgian Dream is quite confidently in control of the situation inside the country, but things are more complicated at the international level. Thus, on February 13, the European Parliament adopted the toughest possible resolution, in which it called for an immediate end to the "brutal repression of peaceful demonstrators" and for new elections. In addition, it is emphasized that MEPs recognize the legitimacy of the country's former president Salome Zurabishvili, and the ruling party is considered a self-proclaimed power.
U.S. President Donald Trump
Hopes for Donald Trump are not justified either. Representatives of the new American administration have not yet said anything at all about Georgia, and their strategy in the South Caucasus remains unknown. Trump also did not cancel the decrees of the previous team to freeze financial support to Georgia and suspend strategic partnership. Finally, the American ambassador has never met with any Georgian Dream functionary in recent months.
The current Georgian authorities have also been cut off from international events in Europe - they missed the Davos Economic Forum and were uninvited to the Munich Security Conference. At the same time, opposition leader Giorgi Gakharia and former President Salome Zurabishvili went to Munich. The latter is scheduled to meet with the EU leadership and speak at panel discussions.
Interestingly, against this background, the Georgian authorities still declare their commitment to European integration. Thus, on February 6, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze gave an interview to Euronews TV channel, in which he said that the republic still expects to become a member of the EU by 2030. He also noted that Tbilisi is not going to restore diplomatic relations with Russia, although it values trade and economic relations with Moscow. "We adhere to a pragmatic policy," he emphasized.
Davos Economic Forum
In such circumstances, the Georgian authorities have become more active in interacting with neighboring states and Eastern countries. Thus, Irakli Kobakhidze traveled to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan over the past month, and visited the United Arab Emirates twice. The first time in Dubai he talked to Arab investors, the second time he participated in the World Summit of Governments, where he held talks with the Prime Minister of Kuwait and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban.
What experts say
Political scientist and expert of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Shota Apkhaidze reminds that the Georgian Dream party promised to ban the activities of Saakashvili and his team back in 2012.
- This was not done then, on the contrary, many representatives of the previous authorities remained in their positions and were even promoted. Why did this happen? Apparently, the West exerted pressure and protected its protégés. Now Tbilisi's relations with Washington and especially with Brussels are close to the extreme point, that is why the previous agreements do not work. I believe that now Saakashvili's team will finally receive the punishment they deserve," he says.
Political scientist Archil Sikharulidze says that the establishment of the investigation commission is a logical continuation of the conflict between the Georgian Dream and the West.
- Western colleagues have decided to quarrel with the Georgian authorities. They are taking retaliatory actions, including threatening to close the United National Movement, which is openly financed from abroad. At the same time, I believe that this is an argument in negotiations, and the banning of opposition parties is not a foregone conclusion. If the Europeans change their minds and come to an agreement, the investigation commission will either be closed or the results of its work will be postponed. If the conflict continues, the ban is quite likely," he explains.
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