MP Sharashidze: Burchuladze must explain how his actions weakened opposition

“I call on Paata Burchuladze to speak about the truth. I do not rule out the possibility that he was misled, but he must be able to explain how his attempt — even if his involvement in the adventure was unintentional — contributed to strengthening the authoritarian regime of Georgian Dream and weakening the opposition and the protest movement in general. This is a fact,” Giorgi Sharashidze, a member of the Gakharia for Georgia party and MP, said.

According to Sharashidze, if a crime was committed and Burchuladze knowingly participated in it, he should also have the courage to acknowledge it.

“Mr. Burchuladze must explain why what happened happened. If it was a mistake, he should call a mistake a mistake; if it was a crime and he knowingly participated in it, he should also have the courage to acknowledge it,” Sharashidze said.

Asked whether Burchuladze could also reach a plea agreement, Sharashidze said that was a matter for Burchuladze himself to decide.

In any case, we assess this negatively. We are not talking about those who genuinely ended up there by accident and were sent to prison because of irresponsible organizers. But those who were directly involved in organizing it, who said, ‘We start on October 4 and finish on October 4,’ and whose actions contributed to the implementation of the dirty provocation planned by Georgian Dream — these people must speak about it, including Mr. Paata Burchuladze,” Sharashidze said.

Paata Burchuladze published a letter on social media in which he said: “Those of you outside prison who claim to be ‘well-wishers,’ remember that political prisoners do not need hypocritical expressions of ‘sympathy’ or tears from outside. They are heroes, but that does not mean they must necessarily remain in captivity for many years and fail to escape this injustice.”