Zurab Japaridze, the leader of “Girchi – More Freedom,” responds to the new charges brought against him.
In a letter released from prison, Japaridze writes that he has no intention of leaving Georgia and will remain in the country he is accused of betraying if only to paint yet another absurd picture: how a “traitor” doesn’t run away when given the chance.
The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Zurab Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, and Giorgi Vashadze of sabotage and assisting hostile activities for a foreign country. If convicted, they face 7 to 15 years in prison.
“It’s November 7, 2025, 17:30. The guard opens the cell door’s window and asks whether I will attend my court hearing, apparently scheduled for 19:00. For a moment I think: if others are going too, maybe I should go at least we’d be together, we’d have some fun in the court’s ‘holding cage.’ But then I run through the list of potential attendees and realize none of them are going, so I tell the guard no.
That’s how they congratulated me on the 108th anniversary of the ‘Great October Revolution.’ When I was a child, this was something Brezhnev did. A guard is better than Brezhnev.
The recordings being played by the Georgian-language Russian channels are obviously not secret anyone can tell, except someone completely unconscious. The events take place in Dedaena Park. I’m holding a megaphone so the people can hear clearly, and when that wasn’t enough, we asked for a wheel-broken speaker from TV Pirveli through the microphone. They need the ‘secrecy’ angle to make it sound more dramatic as if they uncovered something by hard work. But the real point about those recordings isn’t the ‘secrecy.’ Those recordings were made in 2021 or 2022, when Laka and I had refused our parliamentary mandates, had filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court protesting the rigged 2020 elections, and were discussing how to make that protest larger. The 2024 elections hadn’t even happened yet. Therefore, whatever Laka and I say in those recordings (and I stand by every word), they cannot possibly be connected to the events of November–December 2024. This is just for information they’ll attach it anyway, that’s not the issue.
I couldn’t quite understand from the indictment what exactly they are pinning on Laka that’s different from what they’re accusing me and Giorgi of, but it doesn’t matter whether it was said or done, I stand by everything.
The only thing that confuses me a bit is this: they spent millions trying to convince people that Laka was financed by the Kremlin, and now they must prove he’s a Ukrainian agent. I always thought he looked a bit like Mata Hari,” Japaridze writes.
According to Japaridze, the new charges brought against opposition leaders who are already in custody may be connected to the European Commission’s enlargement report.
However, he says there is another purpose to force opposition leaders to leave the country.
“In reality, what they’re telling us is that once we get out of prison, we must leave the country if we don’t want to end up back here for a long time they’ve already let us taste what that feels like. Either we leave or we get 7 to 15 years. That’s the message.
I don’t consider it shameful if a person escapes a dictatorial regime that intends to take their life or part of their life. It doesn’t matter whether that ‘part’ is one day or fifteen years.
We each have only one life, and I never believed we are born with some obligation to spend this life in ways we don’t want. To me, that means you are not free and therefore, not fully human.
The only thing that irritates me is when someone who escaped the dictatorship or the hopelessness it created:
a) tries to teach those who stayed how to fight the dictatorship;
b) insists they are doing more abroad than an ordinary protester on Rustaveli Avenue.
I also have only one life, and in this life I have roles just as important as that of a ‘politician,’ just like anyone who doesn’t live alone on an island like Crusoe.
Brother, husband, father, friend, teacher.
I spent almost half my life on what interests me most studying and teaching everywhere around me what the world of humans is like and what rules should shape it so that each next generation inherits something better. Hundreds of young people have passed through my hands.
Unlike an ordinary professor, I live what I teach. Therefore, no matter how it looks from the outside, the truth is that now I have no choice because the choice was made long ago. Prison or exile to me, this is simply a test of everything I believe in.
The greatest injustice here is that Nata has no choice, my children have no choice, my brother, my uncle, my friends none of them have a choice. Every person I love will have to continue living with the decision I once made. No one understands this better than the one to whom it will be hardest Nata.
I often thought that someday Nata and I would make lists of our favorite tracks/music, books, and films for our children.
I don’t know why a person wants their children to listen to the same music, watch the same films, read the same books they love. Maybe subconsciously you think that if they experience the same worlds, they’ll become like you. There’s something selfish about that.
I’ve never been attached to material things. I rarely keep anything for long. Unless it’s a gift, I can give anything away without hesitation.But the ‘Decision Concerning Charges Against an Individual, Document No. D20007853123KN’ is one thing I will never give away I will keep it for my children.
I can advise my children to read the Gospels to understand how far human cruelty can go, even toward the kindest person. I can advise them to read Kafka to understand how absurd the world created by soulless and thoughtless people can be. I can advise them to watch Chaplin to see how ridiculous evil can become. I can advise them to read Shalamov, Bukowski, to understand what the Soviet Union was. Or I can advise them to read my indictment carefully. I very much want my children to laugh at that document one day the same way I laugh now. That laughter will compensate for everything everything my family has endured through these years.
Every day people wonder about the regime’s condition whether it’s struggling or stable.
If it were doing well, if it truly believed it had democratic legitimacy, it wouldn’t behave this insanely. But if for 10 years you can’t even sit down and talk to people, and then you threaten those same people with 7–15 years in prison just for speaking, it means all you have left is hired muscle.
Of course I’m not going anywhere. I will stay in my country the country I am accused of betraying if only to paint yet another absurd picture: how a ‘traitor’ doesn’t run away when he has the chance. Thank you to everyone who reaches out to me, but I really don’t need encouragement. I’ll be the one encouraging others 🙂 Go out to Rustaveli.
When you get tired, when you’re fed up, when depression hits get up and go to Rustaveli.
Don’t see it as work or duty. Enjoy it. Have fun with it. Look at the map look who is fighting you and still can’t stop you. How can you not enjoy that?
Look at what state they’re in. They have everything almost absolute power, money, hired muscles and what have they become? They chase people with masks. They’ve given up the ability to speak. They look more ridiculous every day.
Don’t be angry about it. Laugh, have fun, enjoy yourselves. Turn the monster into a clown. That’s how the collapse begins,” Japaridze writes.
The Prosecutor’s Office has launched criminal proceedings against 8 opposition leaders for crimes committed against the state.
This was announced today, November 6, at a briefing by the Prosecutor General, Giorgi Gvaramidze.
According to him, criminal proceedings have begun against Mikheil Saakashvili, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Gvaramia, Nikanor Melia, Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, Elene Khoshtaria, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Badri Japaridze. All of them, except Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, are currently in custody.
Specifically, the opposition leaders are being prosecuted for: assisting hostile activities for a foreign country; financing activities directed against Georgia’s constitutional order and national security; and calling for the violent overthrow of Georgia’s constitutional order and government.