According to Tamta Mikeladze, director of the non-governmental organization “Social Justice Center,” individual respirators, goggles, caps, and medical and safety equipment purchased in accordance with UN and OSCE standards cannot be considered as any form of “financial mobilization” in support of a protest.
Speaking to journalists after being questioned as a witness in the so-called sabotage attempt case, she stated that what is happening in Georgia is a Russian-style destruction of civil society.
Regarding the “pepper spray,” Mikeladze explained that it was purchased for the female employees of her organization to protect themselves in crisis situations.
“The main goal of these processes, I believe, is to cover up a plan to destroy civil society. It is well known that a few days ago, at the request of the prosecution, the bank accounts of seven organizations were frozen, which practically means our work has been halted, and we have been rendered dysfunctional. In Georgia, we are witnessing a Russian-style destruction of civil society. This is our main point, not what the investigation is trying to suggest today, attempting to shift responsibility onto us with fabricated arguments. Of course, we will fight through legal means to save our organizations, including at the European Court of Human Rights, and the anti-democratic steps will have to be answered for in the Strasbourg Court.
The investigation was looking into our role in connection with the protests held in the spring and autumn. We emphasized the police’s arbitrariness and brutal violence. In November and December, the ‘Georgian Dream’ government dispersed Georgian citizens seven times in a manner reminiscent of November 7. During these times, there were severe cases of torture and inhumane treatment. The Public Defender has documented over 280 instances of violence. The Public Defender and non-governmental organizations are speaking out about how special measures were used consecutively, and in all but one case, the police did not even warn citizens about dispersing the gatherings. On the contrary, we are talking about the severe violations, violence, and brutality shown by the police themselves. Naturally, our argument was that, as a human rights organization monitoring these processes hourly, we needed safety equipment for our employees in this zone of violence and risk. Individual quantities of respirators, goggles, caps, and medical and safety equipment purchased in accordance with UN and OSCE standards cannot be considered as any form of financial mobilization.
As for the ‘pepper spray,’ I want to clarify to the public: our organization has been facing harassment and persecution for years under ‘Georgian Dream’s’ rule. Initially, people from ‘Alt-Info’ came to us, threatening violence, death, and rape. Later, their ‘titushky’ came to my house, put up photos, wrote vile inscriptions, and signaled that they knew where I lived and could approach me. In practice, they put us at risk of physical harm. Therefore, we assessed the risks faced by our team members in this brutal reality, and for the women, who make up 90% of our staff, we purchased these means. This was a tool for self-defense in a crisis situation,” Tamta Mikeladze stated.
For reference, on August 27, the prosecution released information stating that the Tbilisi City Court granted the prosecution’s motion to freeze the bank accounts of several non-governmental organizations, including the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Defenders of Democracy, Georgia’s Democratic Initiative, Safary, and the Social Justice Center.
According to the prosecution, the case concerns an ongoing investigation into facts related to sabotage, attempted sabotage under aggravating circumstances, assistance in hostile activities for a foreign organization or an organization under foreign control, and the mobilization of finances for activities directed against Georgia’s constitutional order and national security. Later, the Georgian prosecution summoned the heads of certain non-governmental organizations for questioning as witnesses.
Tamta Mikeladze: Individual respirators and safety equipment cannot be considered as mobilizing support for a protest – the so-called pepper spray was purchased for female employees who were threatened with violence and rape
