The detention of Giorgi Baramidze is a brazen example of yet another act of cynical repression by the Ivanishvili regime. This move serves solely to persecute political opponents in order to maintain Ivanishvili's power and to disorient the public, - Giga Bokeria, a leader of the Federalists party, writes on social media.

According to Bokeria, if irresponsible comments and statements can become grounds for legal prosecution, "then numerous representatives of the Ivanishvili regime—including Bidzina Ivanishvili—should have been in prison long ago."

“Freedom of speech protects even completely irresponsible, foolish, and indeed harmful comments and statements.

In my view, Gia Baramidze made a thoughtless and catastrophically irresponsible comment; for this, he deserved a harsh political assessment, not criminal prosecution.

In contrast, the Ivanishvili regime has for years been conducting a deliberate, calculated propaganda campaign aimed at normalizing the enemy and undermining Georgian statehood.

From the very moment they entered politics, Ivanishvili himself and his inner circle have waged a treasonous campaign by directly blaming Georgia for the 2008 Russian aggression—propagating the narrative of the "bombing of sleeping Tskhinvali" and Ivanishvili’s own claim that no aggression took place in the Tskhinvali region (asserting that "a shell hit only one wall")—and extending this to apologizing to the "Abkhaz and Ossetian" peoples, thereby blaming the Georgian people and the Georgian state even for the events of the 1990s, a period marked by Russian military aggression and the genocide of Georgians.

If irresponsible comments and statements can serve as grounds for legal prosecution, then countless representatives of the Ivanishvili regime—foremost among them Bidzina Ivanishvili himself—ought to have been in prison long ago for their deliberate, abhorrent propaganda.

After the defeat of this disgraceful regime, one of Georgia’s primary tasks must be to establish a justice system that precludes any government from using the state apparatus against political opponents and freedom of speech.

Instead of persecuting political opponents, government resources should be directed toward rooting out enemy infiltration within the country, strengthening national defense, and securing strong allies in the free world.

Only in this way can we neutralize external threats, protect the lives and liberty of our citizens, and achieve the reunification of Georgia," writes Giga Bokeria.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Giorgi Baramidze—a leader of the National Movement—was arrested on charges of high treason, specifically sabotage. The case concerns a statement Baramidze made regarding the war in Abkhazia. This charge carries a penalty of up to four years in prison.