“For a week now, the main topic around me has been whether I will pay bail or not… I will pay this bail, but not for the reasons I have been hearing over the past days,” wrote Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, on his personal social media page.

According to Japaridze, “this is not a matter of cooperating or not cooperating with the regime.”

As he writes, the likelihood of his re-arrest is very high, but he does not believe it depends on whether he pays bail. The opposition politician says that remaining in the country and continuing the struggle will be the real reason for his renewed imprisonment. Therefore, as he explains, he would rather be jailed for doing something important than for failing to pay bail.

“There is a tradition of pre-New Year greetings, and I have written such texts before, but this time it won’t be just a congratulatory message. I have something else to say: for a week now, the main topic around me has been whether I will pay bail or not, and for a week I’ve been telling everyone that I would decide toward the end. I realized that this answer was wrong. You can’t leave people in suspense like this.

First of all, thank you to everyone who wrote to me, who came to see me, who spoke to me on Rustaveli Avenue, everyone who gave me advice. Special thanks to Zviad Tsetskhladze. I don’t even know how to thank you for finding time to reach out to me from prison.

I have always said that the issue of bail is a personal matter for me, and nothing could force me to consider it from the perspective of political expediency. When a regime forces you to do something solely to break you and threatens you with prison if you don’t comply, for me this goes beyond what is politically right or wrong and becomes a personal matter. This is not about cooperation or non-cooperation with the regime. For me, the most important thing is not to make a decision that will keep me awake at night and render me dysfunctional. Everything else is secondary.

I will pay this bail, but not for the reasons I’ve been hearing these days, and I want to explain my motivation.

First, I believe the probability of my being imprisoned again is very high, but I do not believe this depends on whether I pay bail. I will not stop. I will not leave this country, and that will be the reason for my imprisonment. At this point, I would rather be arrested for doing something more important than for not paying bail.

Second, my stubbornness over the years has turned into both a weakness and a weapon in the hands of the regime. This stubbornness often makes me overly predictable, which the regime exploits. I couldn’t see this myself, but a friend made me realize it. I can’t completely fix this, but when I can, I will try not to let this trait be used against me.

And the third and most important factor for me is that this decision affects not only my immediate future. The fate of people close to me, their families, and their children also depends on what I decide. I do not want my decision to limit anyone’s freedom of action - especially people I know, people close to me, whose families and children I know. I don’t want this responsibility. It wouldn’t let me sleep at night.

That’s why I will pay this bail, and I am saying this now so that no one carries this anxiety into the New Year - neither in my family nor in the families of those who are fighting alongside me.

I congratulate everyone on the upcoming New Year! I don’t know what it will be like, but always remember that we are the majority; always remember that they are afraid; always remember that this hell is not ours and that our moral compass is found in Avtandil’s testament; always remember that it is up to us to decide whether we are defeated or not; and always remember that despite difficulties and sacrifices, our victory is inevitable,” Japaridze wrote on social media.

For reference, on December 22, the Tbilisi City Court imposed bail of 30,000 GEL on Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, a leader of the Coalition for Change, as a preventive measure in the so-called sabotage case. He was also ordered to surrender his passport and ID card to the investigative authorities.

Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze has been charged under Article 318, Part 1, and Article 319 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which concern “sabotage and assistance to a foreign power in hostile activities.”