“Constitutional Court Judge Manana Kobakhidze’s decision to first recuse herself from the case concerning the ban on political parties and then leave her position altogether clearly demonstrates the pressure being exerted on judges to make an entirely unjustified decision, one devoid of legal grounds and hostile to the state and the Constitution,” Ana Tsitlidze, one of the leaders of the United National Movement, said at a press conference.

According to her, Manana Kobakhidze’s decision came shortly after the Venice Commission issued a “very damning opinion.”

“The Venice Commission stated very clearly that banning political parties is not an act of protecting the constitutional order, as Georgian Dream is trying to portray it, but rather an attempt to fundamentally undermine Georgia’s constitutional order,” Ana Tsitlidze noted.

She also said that the Constitutional Court had already violated the Constitution when it secretly accepted the constitutional lawsuit for review, without hearing the parties, on the basis of a report prepared by the investigative commission.

“In 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili promised Georgian citizens free money, prosperity, and development. Instead, after 14 years of his rule, the people of Georgia have been left with rampant corruption, poverty, international isolation, and citizens fleeing the country through emigration. Rather than promising to solve these problems, the oligarchic regime is offering the public nothing but a spectacle.

The Constitutional Court of Georgia violated the Constitution when it secretly accepted Georgian Dream’s constitutional lawsuit for review, without hearing the parties, on the basis of a report prepared by Tsulukiani’s Russian commission,” Ana Tsitlidze said.

Tsitlidze addressed the Constitutional Court judges, saying they must choose between “the Russian occupation regime and their homeland.”

“Constitutional Court judges must understand the following: the decision that the Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili is instructing you to make was written in the Kremlin by the Russian occupation regime. Through this decision, you are not banning the United National Movement and its hundreds of thousands of supporters; you are attempting to destroy the idea of a free and European Georgia.

Your decision would provide a constitutional basis for the occupying state, Russia, in connection with the 2008 war, the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia, and all the tragedies that Russia, as an occupying state, has inflicted on us throughout history.

Through this decision, you are not banning the United National Movement. You are attempting to ban Giorgi Antsukhelidze’s fight for freedom, the Shin­disi heroes’ struggle for Georgia’s territorial integrity, and the words of Guram Gabiskiria - ‘No, never’ - when he refused to bow his head to the Russian occupation regime. You are attempting to ban Zhiuli Shartava’s struggle for Georgia’s territorial integrity.

You must understand that today you are being forced to choose between the Russian occupation regime and your homeland. You must understand that your individual responsibility will be immeasurable. If you carry out the orders of the Russian occupation regime, you will face severe international sanctions. The oligarchic regime will inevitably be replaced, but your responsibility and the international sanctions imposed on you will never disappear.

Whatever decision the Constitutional Court ultimately makes, the United National Movement will never bow to the Russian occupation regime and will fight to the very end for Georgia’s freedom against Bidzina Ivanishvili,” Tsitlidze stated.

Asked whether the party would participate in the Constitutional Court proceedings concerning the lawsuit, Tsitlidze said a decision would be made in the near future.

She added that they did not expect the proceedings to involve any genuine legal process.

“As for our participation, you know that we submitted our response to the Constitutional Court from the outset. We also filed two additional petitions asking the Court to examine the admissibility of the case with the parties present and to give us the opportunity to participate in the proceedings, so that Georgian citizens could once again see this absurd case for themselves.

However, we know very well that there is not a single independent institution in this country, including the Constitutional Court. We know that the judges are also subordinate to the oligarchic regime. The proceedings currently taking place in the Constitutional Court demonstrate precisely that.

Given that the Constitutional Court violated the Constitution when it first accepted this case for review, we certainly have no expectation that we will encounter anything resembling a genuine legal process there,” Ana Tsitlidze said.