The questioning of Baia Pataraia, head of the women’s rights organization “Safari,” regarding the so-called sabotage attempt case has concluded.
Pataraia was questioned before a magistrate judge, and as she stated, the questions pertained to her social media activity. According to her, the questioning was “unserious.”
Pataraia also noted that the questions concerned the activities of “Safari.”
“They went through my Facebook posts one by one. Posts like, ‘If you want to reach freedom, you have to pass through Rustaveli’—they asked what I meant by that, things like that. In my opinion, it was very unserious, and I think this is a waste of the prosecutor’s, the court’s, and my time. The questions were mainly about why I write that people in this country have the right to strike, assemble, and express themselves.
They were interested in ‘Safari’s’ activities. They made me recount in detail what projects we have and what we do, although all of this is already on our Facebook page and website for anyone who is interested to see. They also asked about finances, which are currently frozen and under seizure. I told them that they froze them, they have everything, they’ve seen it all, and I couldn’t give them exact figures because they already know everything… They said, ‘Yes, we know.’ It was a wasted hour and a half, and whether the questioning happened or not, absolutely nothing changed. I didn’t gain any new information, and I’m sure they didn’t either,” Pataraia stated after the questioning.
For reference, on August 27, the Prosecutor’s Office released information stating that the Tbilisi City Court granted the prosecution’s motion to seize the bank accounts of the following organizations: the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Democracy Defenders, the Democratic Initiative of Georgia, “Safari,” and the Social Justice Center.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the case involves an ongoing investigation into allegations of sabotage, attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances, assisting a foreign organization or an organization under foreign control in hostile activities, and mobilizing finances for activities aimed against Georgia’s constitutional order and national security. Subsequently, the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office summoned the heads of certain non-governmental organizations for questioning as witnesses.
Baia Pataraia: During the questioning, my Facebook posts were singled out one by one; it was very unserious. The questions were mainly about why I write that people have the right to strike, assemble, and express themselves
