Lela Tsiskarishvili, the chairwoman of the Tbilisi Human Rights House and director of the Georgian Center for Psychological and Medical Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture (GCRT), was questioned by a magistrate judge in the city court as part of the so-called sabotage attempt case.
As she told the media, questions concerned the fines paid for people who were administratively fined during the protests.
According to Lela Tsiskarishvili, paying administrative fines is an absolutely legitimate activity.
“Since the protests against the “Russian law” began, the Tbilisi Human Rights House has been paying administrative fines for peaceful demonstrators participating in the protests. If you remember, a huge concert was organized in the summer, where Georgian citizens donated money. Then, during the November-December protests, TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia transferred money to the Tbilisi Human Rights House so that we could continue paying fines to people who were administratively fined during the protests. Questions were asked about this.
The mission of the Tbilisi Human Rights House is to support and strengthen human rights defenders in Georgia, to spread knowledge about human rights, and to support these human rights defenders and activists, Georgian citizens who care for this country, including by paying their administrative fines, which is an absolutely legitimate activity.
There has been no incitement to any violent actions, we saw violence when Georgian citizens were tortured. One hundred victims were known to the Prosecutor’s Office and we did not see any perpetrators. The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia should investigate these cases,” said Lela Tsiskarishvili.
Chairwonman of Human Rights House: Questions were asked about the fines paid for protesters – supporting people, including paying administrative fines, is a legitimate activity
