The leader of the Georgian opposition Coalition for Change Zurab Girchi Japaridze, who was sentenced to 7 months in prison on June 23, is distributing a letter from prison in which he suggests creating an online platform to count the number of opponents of the ruling party. The text talks about the importance of opposition unity and the need for protest.
“The regime is based on lies. And the main lie on which it is based is not the fight against the Deep State or Bidzina’s generosity, the lie is that they are the majority! All their propaganda serves the purpose of portraying the majority. All of Gorby’s research is the same story. Thousands of troll bots are the same. People brought to rallies by force and money are the same. Election fraud is the same,” Japaridze explains.
He emphasizes that today it has become possible what could have been impossible many years ago – the creation of an online platform, “where everyone, inside or outside the country, every citizen of Georgia who demands a change of regime and the return of Georgia to its historical path, towards Europe, will register.” According to the oppositionist, the most important thing now is “to overcome the fear of others and convince them of the need to register on the platform,” since this is the only way out and “there is no other policy.
“The time for being in the trenches is over. The online platform is a way out of the trenches,” Japaridze is convinced.
The leader of the “Coalition for Change” notes that “the Russians should also see this” and be convinced that, despite all their efforts, “we have remained Georgians, and the majority is not scared, and we have not sold out.”
“We are going through this stage, but ultimately victory will only come on the streets. When everyone sees and believes that there are many more of us, when they also see that we are not afraid, then if a few Russian bastards still try to usurp power, you will peacefully cut off their heads and jaws.
If you do not do this, you are a slave,” Japaridze sums up.
Recall that four leaders of the Georgian opposition were recently sentenced to imprisonment for refusing to testify to the temporary investigative commission of the parliament investigating the activities of the previous authorities. These are Zurab Girchi Japaridze (Coalition for Change, Girchi – More Freedom party), Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze (Strong Georgia coalition, Lelo party), as well as Giorgi Vashadze (Strategy Agmashenebeli). All of them received 7 to 8 months in prison. The maximum penalty for "failure to comply with the legal requirements of the temporary investigative commission of parliament" (Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia) is imprisonment for up to one year.
In addition, verdicts under this article and other "unwanted" politicians are expected in the coming days. It is noteworthy that almost none of the opposition representatives agreed to cooperate with the investigative body. Thus, almost all the main opponents of the ruling party will remain without leaders at least until the end of the year. In particular, the leaders of the "Coalition for Change" Nika Gvaramia and Nika Melia, as well as former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, are awaiting the court's verdict in the preliminary conclusion.
