Opinion: "Ivanishvili wants to be the sole boss so that no one can turn to anyone else"
Ivanishvili suppresses solidarity
“People faced problems simply for showing solidarity — they were arrested, their homes searched. Bidzina Ivanishvili wants to be the sole master and boss, so that no one can turn to anyone else,” said lawyer Nika Simonishvili on the programme In the Political Space, responding to the Georgian Dream government’s freezing of independent foundation funds and coordinated raids on the homes of their leaders.
On 28 April, the Prosecutor’s Office conducted coordinated searches of the homes of foundation heads who had been helping protesters and political prisoners. Raids were carried out at the homes of Nanuka Zhorzholiani, Mariam Badzhelidze, Guga Khelaia, and Aleko Tsikitishvili. Prosecutors entered the residences on the basis of a judge’s warrant, which stated the investigation concerns “sabotage” and “aiding a foreign state or organisation in hostile activity.”
Previously, the Prosecutor’s Office had frozen the funds of organisations that supported fined protesters and families of political prisoners. The accounts of the Nanuka Fund, Nika Gilauri’s fund, and the Tbilisi Human Rights House were seized.
Nika Simonishvili:
“We need to understand the main goal of Georgian Dream. I believe their primary objective — their most urgent task — is to stop the protests on Rustaveli Avenue.
Whether it’s 400 people or four blocking Rustaveli doesn’t matter. It’s a symbol that the protest is ongoing, and that’s precisely why they [Georgian Dream] are not gaining legitimacy on the international stage. That’s why they need to stop the protest somehow. If the international community sees that we are silent and putting up with it, then why would it bother to impose sanctions or punish members of Georgian Dream?”
What they’re doing in parliament is nothing short of suppressing any dissent that questions their legitimacy — though they are careful not to go too far. When the police began banning roadblocks during demonstrations, even more people took to the streets. The authorities realised they needed to tread more carefully: if they didn’t interfere with road closures, fewer people would turn out, and this smaller crowd could then be dismissed as “insignificant.” They are deliberately cultivating public disillusionment so that fewer and fewer citizens take part in protests.
This entire protest movement is built on solidarity — it’s what keeps the struggle going. Even those charitable foundations were an expression of solidarity, and the authorities responded with home raids. What we saw in the case of Mzia Agamlobeli and many others who were oppressed or tortured was also an act of solidarity, and the government deliberately created problems for them because of it.
Bidzina Ivanishvili wants to be the sole master — so that you have no one to turn to but him. Without solidarity, and with no one to reach out to, the people are left isolated.
