The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) has arrested Zviad Kuprava, a member of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party and the Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo), over his Facebook video in which, the SSSG official said, he called on citizens to “disrupt the October 4 elections and overthrow the government.”
Lasha Maghradze, first deputy to the security service chief, said at an October 1 briefing that Kuprava has been indicted on two criminal charges: Article 317, “publicly calling for the government’s overthrow,” and Article 353, “resisting a protector of public order.” Maghradze said Kuprava resisted officials during his arrest.
Kuprava’s arrest stemmed from his September 30 Facebook video in which he outlined a plan to disrupt the October 4 municipal elections, which many opposition parties, including the UNM, are boycotting. He said: “From the morning, both in groups and individually, we will start moving across the city, and out of the 500 special operation points we will definitely break through one,” Kuprava said in a video address, referring to polling stations. “After that, the domino principle will take effect and Ivanishvili will be toppled.”
Kuprava also said he would “stay home until October 5” if Mikheil Saakashvili and other political prisoners were freed beforehand, calling it a “compromise,” “trading” or a “threat” to Bidzina Ivanishvili, and telling him personally, “If political prisoners are not freed, you will be toppled on October 4.”
The SSSG official said Kuprava “made an ultimatum to the government to have convicted Mikheil Saakashvili and others, whom he called political prisoners, released.” The official added that Kuprava also announced he would commit another crime – “interference with the expression of will in the elections” – under Article 162 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.
“The State Security Service will closely study all such statements and actions with criminal intent to assess them legally and respond accordingly,” Maghradze said.
The arrest came three days before the scheduled October 4 local elections, which are widely boycotted by mainstream opposition forces, and amid calls for a “peaceful revolution” on the same date, with the UNM among the most vocal supporters. On September 11, the SSSG arrested UNM member Levan Khabeishvili on similar grounds, accusing him of offering bribes to riot police to avoid dispersing demonstrators and side with them. Khabeishvili has been one of the most prominent figures in calls for the “peaceful overthrow” of the Georgian Dream government.
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