"Pawel Herczyński's statements are shameful – they tell him that he should say the white is black, and he goes out and repeats everything like a parrot." This is how the General Secretary of "Georgian Dream," Kakha Kaladze, responded to the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczyński's statements regarding the media environment in Georgia and the founders of "Batumelebi" and "Netgazeti," Mzia Amaghlobeli.

As Kaladze pointed out, it is clearly evident that Pawel Herczyński is taking orders from outside.

"I don't know what he's talking about. His statements are shameful. I have nothing personal against him. It is clear that this person is receiving instructions from outside. They tell him to say that white is black, and he goes out and repeats everything like a parrot. It's unbelievable to talk about a worsened media environment in Georgia when there are so many opposition TV stations and different agencies. How can you go against freedom of expression and speech? In Georgia, freedom of expression and speech are protected. We can compete with many developed European countries in this regard. If you ask me, freedom of speech and expression is overly free here; it turns into defamation and insult, which we see from certain media outlets," Kaladze noted.

Kaladze also emphasized that, instead of urging Mzia Amaghlobeli to stop her hunger strike, Pawel Herczyński is doing everything to encourage the process.

"This is not the first shameful statement we hear. Unfortunately, we’ve been conditioned to these statements, which are based on lies, falsehoods, and malice. You can see how violence and malice are being encouraged. Instead of calling on a hunger-striking prisoner to stop their hunger strike, he is doing everything to encourage the process and further worsen Mzia Amaghlobeli's health condition. This shows that these people don't care about Mzia Amaghlobeli's health at all. They are using her for their own interests, trying to cover it up with PR mechanisms, just like in the case of Saakashvili. Everyone knows the processes happening in the world and the country, who Herczyński is, and whose interests he represents, which is clear from his statements. This evil will end soon," Kaladze said.

For reference, Pawel Herczyński, the EU Ambassador to Georgia, made these comments at the "EU Prize for Journalism" event, where he stated that today there is an attempt to silence opposing voices and, at the same time, allow impunity for those who commit violence against journalists. He also reiterated calls for the immediate release of Mzia Amaghlobeli.