‘We once fought for European future — now we are defending country’s sovereignty’: view on protests in Georgia
Lawyer on Georgia’s new protest restrictions
Commenting on new legislative acts adopted by the Georgian government relating to assemblies and demonstrations, lawyer Nika Simonishvili said the ruling Georgian Dream party is seeking to ban all forms of protest it considers undesirable.
According to him, while a year ago protesters in Georgia were defending the country’s European future, today they are taking to the streets to protect its sovereignty.
Georgia’s parliament has approved legislative amendments restricting demonstrations not only on roadways but also on pavements. Under the new rules, organisers are required to notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs at least five days before a protest is due to take place. The ministry may then authorise the event or propose an alternative location and time. Violations of the new provisions are subject to administrative penalties.
Nika Simonishvili: “The Georgian Dream is doing everything it can to exclude citizens from participation in political processes and to ban all forms of protest, leaving people no opportunity to express themselves.
Under normal circumstances, a citizen can take part in the democratic process either through elections or through protests. But ‘Dream’ bars emigrants from voting abroad and is trying to ban opposition parties, thereby depriving opposition-minded voters of any choice. … People are left with only one tool — to take to the streets and protest. Now even protests are being banned, and prison sentences are предусмотрены for them, even though this contradicts both Georgia’s Constitution and international standards.”
You cannot restrict people’s right to assemble on pavements. This law is so absurd that it is impossible even formally to determine where the line between legality and illegality lies. In essence, it means the police can ban you from holding a protest virtually anywhere, and you are obliged to comply.
As a lawyer, I cannot offer any advice here. Georgian Dream has banned protests on public and municipal streets and roads. But in Tbilisi, all streets and roads are either public or municipal. So where am I supposed to protest now? Sit at home and post on Facebook? Or float down the Kura River holding a placard?
A year ago, at the start of the protests, we said we were defending Georgia’s European future. But today the reality is that we are taking to the streets simply to preserve our country and protect its sovereignty.
And if today we give up on protests, it will mean that the country’s sovereignty ends up in the hands of one person, who, if he so wishes, could easily hand it over to someone else. Because citizens would no longer have any way to influence any process — neither through elections nor through protests.”
