Georgian Witnesses at the Congressional Hearing Under Fire

Following the June 4 Helsinki Commission’s congressional hearing on supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and democracy featuring testimonies from the EU Integration Program Manager at the Civil Society Foundation and Georgia Country Consultant at the European Endowment for Democracy Ivane Chkhikvadze and Senior Fellow at Chatham House and former Georgian Ambassador to the EU Natalie Sabanadze, the ruling party has unleashed a targeted campaign of harassment against the two witnesses.

What prompted the angry comments from the GD officials and the special attention of the pro-government TV channels was Chkhikvadze and Sabanadze’s detailed description of Georgia’s democratic backsliding, the ongoing persecution of dissent and violence by law enforcement and government-paid thugs, as well as the plea they made at the hearing for sanctions against those who undermine democracy in the country and to help protect Georgia’s democracy, including active monitoring of the October elections.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and ruling party MPs, in a vivid similarity of comparisons and descriptions, compared Chkhikvadze and Sabanadze to Sergo Orjonikidze, a Georgian Bolshevik who led the Russian-Soviet occupation of Georgia. PM Irakli Kobakhidze claimed Chkhikvadze and Sabanadze acted in the same way as the traitors of Georgia did a century ago, “betraying their country this time in Washington, instead of Moscow.” He called their testimonies a “treason” and noted that he expects this “treason” to take place in other countries too. “If a person is a traitor, he will betray you equally in Washington, Brussels and Berlin,” he said.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili lashed out at the two witnesses saying: “We have seen Orjonikidzes of the 21st century, who have snitched on their homeland to the legislature of another country, and who have testified against their own country…before the representatives of the legislature of another country. I don’t know what greater shame can happen to a person than this… Their nature is that of Sergo Orjonikidze, just as he brought the 11th Army to Georgia, so they want to bring in sanctions or some kind of punishment against Georgia, and for that they come to the capital of another country to report about their own country, to demand the punishment of their opponents’ children”.

Georgian Dream MP Beka Odisharia commented: “What I want to tell Sabanadze – before she sucked up to us, she sucked up to Saakashvili, and now she sucks up to Gakharia [Sabanadze used to be Giorgi Gakharia’s advisor on foreign relations]. I even feel sorry for Mikheil Saakashvili being encircled by such scoundrels…”

In their statement, the People’s Power attacked Ivane Chkhikvadze and Natalie Sabanadze for testifying before the United States Congress. The statement calls them “Georgians with no homeland,” and describes their testimonies as full with “evil”, calling the hearing a “clown show filled with revanchism.”

One of the first to attack the two witnesses was Maka Botchorishvili, Chairwoman of the parliamentary European Integration Committee, who devoted a lengthy FB post to the issue. Calling the congressional hearing a “spectacle,” she slammed Congress for inviting Sabanadze and Chkhikvadze to testify, claiming that it would be “more logical” to instead invite the acting Ambassadors or a “person with legitimacy” to speak “on behalf of the [Georgian] people.” She further noted: “If you don’t want to listen to the representative of the [parliamentary] majority, it is possible to find at least one person from the broad spectrum of the parliamentary opposition who…would be very happy to play this role…”. She continues: “When I look at the Georgians who testified in Congress, I also wonder what the price is for putting yourself in such a situation – so that the citizens of the country whose passport you have in your pocket see you betraying them live on air.”

Botchorishvili, like the rest of the GD team, does not shy away from comparing the Georgian witnesses to Bolsheviks or even fascists: “When you accuse the Georgian government of deviating from European values and at the same time demand that the children be punished for the ‘crime’ of the perpetrators, it is already difficult to determine whether the ‘values’ of such people are Bolshevik or rather fascist.” The Chair of the parliamentary committee claims that the Georgian witnesses “in exchange for fair elections” “beg a foreign country… to punish the “Georgian Dream” to avoid a terrible defeat in the elections… So, they bluntly and live on the air, demand from the Congress that a foreign country influence the democratic process in Georgia, the results of the elections!”

MP Beka Odisharia (GD) said bluntly, “We will root out those weeds like Chkhivadze, Sabanadze, […] all those piglets suckling [George] Soros […] NGOs who sold their souls.”

However, not all criticism came from GD. Former President Mikheil Saakashvili also criticized Sabanadze’s testimony on social media, allegedly dissatisfied with her answer regarding the question about his condition. Saakashvili wrote: “Yesterday, several congressmen supported me in the US Congress. Ambassador William Courtney was also very objective. And who justified the current injustice towards me? The same person who supported Ivanishvili’s policy for years until she was fired from the Embassy due to her association with Prime Minister Gakharia – Natalie Sabanadze.” The former President then notes that Sabanadze “received a decent answer from Congressman Steve Cohen, about the violation of my rights and political imprisonment.” Saakashvili’s criticism was echoed by some of the UNM supporters as well, who felt that Sabanadze’s assessment at the hearing that his confinement conditions were “decent” and his health “improving”, were not accurate.

This news was updated at 19:15 on June 6 to include a comment from MP Maka Botchorishvili and on June 7 at 16:23 to include the quote by Beka Odisharia.

Also Read:

• 01/06/2024 – Intimidation Campaign Against Opposition, Civil Society, Gov’t Critics as Repressions Announced by GD MPs
• 11/05/2024 – Orchestrated Intimidation of Protesters Against Agents’ Bill

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