“It is significant that the court has established culpability in respect of organising an attempted overthrow, and that the October 4 events have once again been given a proper legal assessment,” said Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili, commenting on the court’s verdict in the October 4 case.

As Papuashvili noted, following political assessments, there now exists a court document establishing what it was we were dealing with.

“Now that it has been determined today who bears legal responsibility for organising the attempted coup, we already knew who bore political responsibility for the violence, and that is Brussels. What we witnessed on October 4 is entirely and squarely Brussels’ political responsibility. We saw the European Commission lend its support to violence that had been announced in advance. Moreover, on the very day the Presidential Palace was being stormed, MEP Rasa Juknevičienė and others of like mind, people harbouring hostile designs towards the Georgian people, were using various social media platforms to cheer on the overthrow of the government. Among them was the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, who openly and directly declared her support for the violence. That political responsibility has today been given a firm legal foundation,” Papuashvili stated.

As Papuashvili emphasised, both the European Commission and its representative in Georgia, EU Ambassador Paweł Herczyński, are owed clear answers regarding the events of October 4.

“We want an answer from the European Union: where are the European values we are so often lectured about? Is violence a European value? It turns out that overthrowing a government is a European value. That injuring people is a European value. The European Commission must answer for this, and its representative is the EU Ambassador. We therefore expect and demand an answer from the EU Ambassador regarding October 4 developments: does the EU Ambassador intend to apologise to the President of Georgia for the attack on his Palace carried out by people whom they encouraged and emboldened? Does Paweł Herczyński personally intend to apologise to the President of Georgia for the fact that seven months have passed since October 4, and he has not once condemned the violence against the Presidential Palace, violence against a President who is, by definition, the primary host of any ambassador in the country? When people conduct themselves in this manner, treating their host with utter contempt, inciting violence and then refusing to accept any responsibility for it, that is not European conduct.

So let those who carry a European passport in their pocket not wave it in our faces. We know perfectly well what it means to be European. What we observed from Brussels, and what we witnessed on October 4, is completely and utterly devoid of anything European. What we witnessed on October 4 was, if anything, the Europe of a hundred years ago, the dark and benighted Europe of a century past,” Papuashvili declared.

For reference, the Tbilisi City Court has delivered its verdict in the October 4 case. The defendants, Paata Burchuladze, Murtaz Zodelava, Irakli Nadiradze and Paata Manjgaladze, were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.