Archil Gorduladze: The members of the National Movement demonstrate, moment by moment, that their objective has not changed, the public is once again convinced that the National Movement must be banned - not least because of the threatening statements made during court proceedings

Even during the course of a hearing, the members of the National Movement demonstrate, moment by moment, that their objective has not changed. The public is once again convinced that the National Movement must be banned—including due to the threatening statements made during the court process, Archil Gorduladze, an MP from Georgian Dream, stated while speaking to journalists.

He added that members of the National Movement, even during a court hearing, fail to express any remorse for the crimes they have committed.

"Today, Ana Tsitlidze echoed a statement made by Mikheil Saakashvili. During the court proceedings, Saakashvili remarked from the courtroom that it would have been appropriate to put Roin Shavadze—the man who was killed—on trial, arguing that since he was committing crimes, he should have faced prosecution. Regarding the Afrasidze family, Ana Tsitlidze claimed that they, too, were committing crimes. In doing so, she justified the actions taken against that family—actions Baramidze takes pride in, suggesting that even more force should have been used, more helicopters deployed, and a house full of sleeping children subjected to even heavier bombardment and gunfire. Let them speak as much as they want. Although what the United National Movement members say is deeply distressing for the public to hear, their every word and action during these sessions confirms that their objectives remain unchanged. The threat they pose is immediate; should they return to power, they would once again overthrow the constitutional order, trample upon human rights, dehumanize and crush people underfoot, and unleash a bloodbath. And even during the course of the proceedings, they show no remorse for the crimes they have committed. On the contrary, they claim that Georgia was a 'beacon of democracy' between 2004 and 2012, asserting that this is confirmed by international reports. However, these so-called reports are one thing, while the rulings of the Strasbourg Court are quite another. The public is once again convinced that the National Movement should be banned—not least because of the dangerous statements made during the legal proceedings," stated Gorduladze.