Sanctions are not essential meaning - everyone who has the right attitude towards the country will confirm that rights, freedom of speech and expression in Georgia are at the highest level! - Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze told journalists, answering a question about the fact that the sanctioned Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, will participate in the discussions on the state of human rights protection in Georgia at the UN.

According to Kakha Kaladze, the most important thing is that in reality, the Georgian people know very well who is the enemy of the country and who is not.

"Sanctions have no essential meaning. We know how sanctions were imposed. It was solely and exclusively politically motivated. In no way, in terms of content, is any sanction sound, there is no argument, no basis for sanctioning anyone in Georgia. Decisions were made solely and exclusively politically motivated. Also, we have seen many times, even statements regarding Georgia, why they were made. Someone was paying for this, it was portrayed as lobbying. In reality, they were receiving money to smear our country. All this is described in the FARA document and is clear and obvious to the public. Therefore, all this has no substantial meaning. All the statements regarding Georgia that were made were solely politically motivated, there was no correct information, even regarding those violent protests. Who came from abroad and who spoke the truth about what was happening? What kind of violence, what kind of physical abuse there was, throwing stones at the police, throwing "Molotov cocktails". Did you see someone, one of the foreigners, come out and condemn this, make a statement about this? Therefore, everything is clear to us. The most important thing is that the Georgian people see everything, what processes are going on and what their attitude towards our country is, who is actually our country's enemy and who is our friend, the Georgian people know this very well,” said Kakha Kaladze.

According to Kakha Kaladze, it is stupidity and a lie to talk about Georgia taking steps back from a democratic point of view.

“It is not just Darakhvelidze’s speech. Any person or organization who has the right attitude towards the country and there are no political motives will confirm that rights, freedom of speech and expression in Georgia are at the highest level.

We know what the situation was in the country before 2012 in terms of freedom of speech and expression, human rights. Back then, that period was referred to as a beacon of democracy, and they say about what is happening in Georgia today that the country has taken steps back from a democratic point of view. This is a very big stupidity and a lie, isn’t it?! People see this, the population have experienced what it was like before 2012 and what the situation is today," said Kakha Kaladze.