"Every day I expect this tastelessly staged spectacle, in which I am a participant, to end, but it is gradually turning into something serious and its degree of absurdity is also increasing," – stated Paata Burchuladze, who is charged in the October 4 case, during the court hearing.

As he noted, this process has been going on for six months, and it is still unclear to him what exactly he is being charged with.

"Every day I expect this tastelessly staged spectacle, in which I am a participant, to end, but it is gradually turning into something serious and its degree of absurdity is also increasing. This process has already been going on for six months, and it is still unclear to me what I am being accused of and what these two respected prosecutors (Tamar Bezhuashvili and Vazha Todua) want. After six months, I finally have the right to know – what exactly are you investigating? What really happened – are you referring to the real destruction of Georgia or the damage to the fence of the Palace? Shouldn’t we know what we are being charged with? Organizing a protest? Does the word 'peaceful rally' bother you, or does 'overthrow' bother you? Do you want this to be seen as a call for violent action?

If I had called on people to violently overthrow the government, to carry out a violent revolution, and hundreds of thousands of people had come – almost more than came to the so-called elections – that would mean that hundreds of thousands of people were ready to violently overthrow the dictator. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the country who intend to overthrow the 'Georgian Dream' by force. Is that what you want to prove? Just tell us, and we will thank you for standing by the country.

Your unprofessional and malicious actions have caused me very great personal harm. Even the fact that for six months my students have been waiting for me and I cannot teach them. Even the fact that you stopped my tours in Europe for no reason. These tours are not only for me – I also carry the name of Georgia. Even the fact that for six months I have not only been unable to see, but cannot even speak on the phone with my wife, children, and grandchildren, and because of your malicious actions, I could not say goodbye to my Holiness. This has been very hard for me, and if your goal was to cause me pain, congratulations – you have achieved it.

And finally, I address my fellow citizens, everyone standing on Rustaveli and Georgia as a whole: Hold on, Georgia. You make me proud," – stated Paata Burchuladze.

For information: Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze, and Irakli Nadiradze have been charged under Article 19-222, Part 2, Subparagraph “a” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which implies an attempt to seize and block strategic and especially important facilities committed by a group. They have also been charged under Article 225, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which implies the organization and leadership of group violence. They have also been charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code, which implies a call for the violent change of Georgia’s constitutional order and the overthrow of state authorities, which provides for imprisonment of up to 9 years as a form and measure of punishment.