After the European Commission published a harsh assessment about Georgia, the Prosecutor’s Office charged opposition leaders with serious crimes against the State.[1] This step by Georgian Dream is a continuation of the party’s initiative (which has evolved into legislative amendments) that the Constitutional Court can ban a party and any person “related to it.” The Democracy Research Institute believes that the goal of these abstract charges and unconstitutional legislative amendments is to eliminate the opposition spectrum and ultimately establish dictatorship.

The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia named the following as the basis for the charges against the opposition leaders: providing false information to foreign states, providing a list of persons to be sanctioned, calling for revolution, overthrow of the government, collapse of the government, picketing state buildings, physical confrontation against law enforcement officers, collecting and providing financial and material resources to violent groups.

It is noteworthy that, according to the Prosecutor's Office, the calls were made by the opposition leaders about a year ago, publicly, and all law enforcement agencies were informed about this from the very beginning. In addition, throughout the year, trials of those arrested at the protests were underway, including on charges of group violence. However, despite today's charges, not a single case has revealed facts of coordination or joint action with politicians, or of politicians' control or influence over the actions of the participants in the protests. The protests took place without politicians’ leadership, speeches, or political platform, which also shows that their influence on the course of the protests has not been significant.

In recent years, Georgian Dream’ repressive and destructive actions have coincided with the criticism coming from the European Union and important decisions such as, for example, the resolution of the issue of visa liberalization in December. By intensifying repression and taking another anti-democratic step, Georgian Dream consciously and openly opposes the calls of the European Union, sabotages Georgia's European integration process, and deliberately deepens the country's international isolation.