"I was not involved in any format that implies organizing a rally, including organizing a peaceful rally. Not only was I not the organizer of the rally, but in none of my statements did I consider myself an organizer," – stated Paata Manjgaladze, one of the opposition politicians charged in the October 4 case, during the court hearing.

Manjgaladze was questioned today as a witness at the request of the defense.

According to him, in all his public statements he never spoke without using the word “peace,” and the phrase “so-called peaceful overthrow,” in his perception, excludes any form of violence.

"On Interpressnews, at this very moment, there are more than 1,200 statements, and nowhere do I mention the phrase without the word 'peace.' As for October 4, I was not involved in any format that implies organizing a rally, including organizing a peaceful rally.

Mr. Paata [Burchuladze] said that he was holding a supra-national assembly, where he did not see a place for political parties and their leaders. Even if I had wanted to, after that I could not have been the organizer of the rally. Accordingly, not only was I not one, but in none of my statements did I consider myself an organizer. On Palitranews, I said that I did not perceive myself in any way as an organizer of the already announced rally.

I learned from Mr. Paata Burchuladze on Rustaveli during the rally that he intended to hold a national assembly. As an active person, I was interested in whether Mr. Paata saw a common opposition vision, at which point he firmly said that he did not need opposition parties. I remember exactly that he told me he intended to hold a common national assembly.

After that, there was no initiative from my side regarding involvement. I remained an external supporter. We never discussed the October 4 rally in any format.

I am a lawyer and I am well aware of the risks. If I had known something like this, I would not have gone there despite the request. I believed that this so-called 'peaceful overthrow' was a kind of marketing trick. I always heard 'peaceful overthrow.' I have never used the term 'peaceful overthrow' myself. In my perception, the term 'peaceful overthrow' excludes any kind of violence. I considered it a word used to attract people. I did not perceive this phrase as motivation for an overthrow.

Even after recording that video, I did not have the feeling that...

I did not feel that any danger awaited me, but the main issue is something else. Such statements have been entered as evidence where I criticize the government, which means we are dealing with unprofessionalism. Neither I nor Mr. Paata said anything about violence. It turns out I supposedly said that I was organizing a violent overthrow – where did this word come from? We are either dealing with haste or unprofessionalism," – stated Paata Manjgaladze.

For information: Murtaz Zodelava, Paata Burchuladze, and Irakli Nadiradze were 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 particularly important facilities committed by a group. They were also charged under Article 225, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which implies the organization and leadership of group violence. They were also charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code, which implies a public call for the violent change of Georgia’s constitutional order and the overthrow of state authorities, punishable by up to 9 years of imprisonment.

Irakli Shaishmelashvili was charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code, which implies a public call for the violent change of Georgia’s constitutional order or the overthrow of state authorities, punishable by up to 3 years of imprisonment.

Lasha Beridze was charged under Article 19-222, Part 2, Subparagraph “a” of the Criminal Code, which implies an attempt to seize and block strategic and particularly important facilities committed by a group. He was also charged under Article 225, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which implies the organization and leadership of group violence.

Irakli Chkhvirkia, Nika Gventsadze, and Tornike Mchedlishvili were charged under Article 19-222, Part 2, Subparagraph “a” of the Criminal Code, which implies an attempt to seize and block strategic and particularly important facilities committed by a group. They were also charged under Article 225, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which implies the organization and leadership of group violence. These actions are punishable by 6 to 9 years of imprisonment.

Guri Zhvania was charged under Article 225, Part 2 of the Criminal Code, which implies participation in group violence.

Paata Manjgaladze was charged under Article 225, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which implies the organization of group violence. These actions are punishable by 6 to 9 years of imprisonment.