“At the court hearings of detained protesters, we saw that there was not only a lack of sufficient evidence in their cases but no evidence at all! The court hearings were closed under the pretext of maintaining order, but in reality, ‘Georgian Dream’ wants to ensure that society does not have access to accurate information, so it can easily deceive the public, feed it propaganda, and create a false reality akin to those found in George Orwell’s novels!” said lawyer Nika Simonishvili, commenting on the court proceedings of individuals detained during protest rallies.

As Simonishvili stated on PalitraNews’ program “Daily Newsroom,” “Georgian Dream” is working to ensure that information does not reach the public as it truly is.

According to Simonishvili, after “Georgian Dream” realized that society was receiving full information about the injustices occurring in courtrooms, it restricted video, photo, and audio recordings of the hearings.

“Society has been deprived of the right to receive accurate information about court hearings, and the defendants have been stripped of the opportunity to demonstrate their innocence to the public.

In some cases, hearings were closed because the judge didn’t like something.

At the court hearings, we saw that there was not only insufficient evidence in the cases but no evidence at all! The detained individuals are accused of group crimes, and the prosecution cannot prove this. They cannot prove violence. Therefore, the propaganda media spread AI-generated content claiming that one of the defendants was holding a knife, even though no knife is mentioned in the case at all. Because they had no evidence, ‘Georgian Dream’ and the media it controls began spreading lies.

How can we show all this to society if not through footage, videos, and specific photos?

‘Georgian Dream’ is working to ensure that society does not receive information and that information does not reach beyond the country’s borders as it truly is. OSCE/ODIHR would have been an additional important source to provide a fair assessment of these cases. While local organizations manage to get some information out from the courtrooms, OSCE/ODIHR, as an influential international organization, would be an additional significant source both domestically and internationally. ‘Georgian Dream’ wants to suppress this,” Simonishvili stated.

Simonishvili also noted that the government seeks any minor pretext to harass and create problems for anyone—whether a political opponent or a citizen with a differing opinion.

According to him, “it no longer raises questions about how far ‘Georgian Dream’s’ actions fall within the bounds of seriousness.”

In this context, Simonishvili commented on the seizure of the bank account of the party “Elene Khoshtaria – Droa” due to an unpaid 50 GEL court fee.

“The problem is that accounts are not frozen just for the 50 GEL amount but are completely blocked for individuals and organizations. This shows how the government creates serious problems for people over trivial issues. The ‘Droa’ case clearly demonstrated this.

A 5,000 GEL fine is utterly inhumane. With a 5,000 GEL fine, ‘Georgian Dream’ is directly telling people: ‘You should not go to protests or express dissent!’ A 5,000 GEL fine does not fit within any framework of reasonableness or constitutionality, as confirmed by the assessments and conclusions of two influential international institutions—the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR. This fine has a chilling effect, as it intimidates people from attending protests and expressing dissent. A 5,000 GEL fine is several times higher than the average salary and 15-20 times higher than the minimum subsistence level.

The accounts of those fined are frozen. These individuals mostly manage to collect the fine amount through solidarity with each other, but for those who cannot mobilize the funds, a lien is imposed on the 5,000 GEL fines. All this has created significant financial problems for people—they have loans, and repaying them becomes impossible.

‘Georgian Dream’ no longer thinks about people—it only thinks about how to stop protests and prevent people from expressing differing opinions on the streets,” Simonishvili stated.

Simonishvili also pointed out that the government applies different tax practices to media outlets it favors compared to those it deems undesirable. In this context, he commented on the decision to impose a lien on the account of the outlet “Batumelebi.”

“‘Batumelebi’ is a media outlet whose leader was taken hostage by the government, yet it continues to fight. The lien on ‘Batumelebi’s’ account is related to the activities of a police officer, in connection with which Mzia Amaglobeli was detained for alleged ‘violence.’ After ‘Batumelebi’ released a video recording about marijuana use in a specific bar, the Revenue Service used the financial instrument of imposing a lien.

While it uses tax agreements with ‘Imedi’ and ‘Rustavi 2,’ the Revenue Service did not apply the same financial mechanism to ‘Batumelebi.’ The state is bothered by ‘Batumelebi’s’ 47,000 GEL, but not by hundreds of thousands or millions in taxes from others?

‘Georgian Dream’ wants to promote media outlets that are favorable to it while silencing critical media,” Simonishvili stated.