“It is striking that recently, the German Ambassador has been using artistic methods to convey specific messages and speaks to us through carefully chosen visual backdrops. A few days ago, he gave an interview in front of a poster reading ‘Freedom for Mzia’. With this, he clearly expressed his attitude toward the judge whose trial he claimed to be observing,” wrote Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on social media.

According to Papuashvili, given that the ambassador doesn’t speak Georgian and no one was translating for him in the courtroom, it is obvious that the goal of his “observation” was not to understand the details of the legal process, but to signal to the judge that “Big Brother” is watching—and that if the judge doesn’t deliver the desired ruling, there will be consequences.

“Moreover, the German ambassador was seated next to his Estonian colleague, whose government recently banned this very judge from entering Estonia for failing to deliver rulings favorable to them. Clearly, both the ambassador’s presence at the trial and his appearance in front of such a slogan amount to pressure on the judiciary, which is a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplo