PM’s moratorium does not apply to ongoing court trials

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says it is the desire of the Georgian Government for all election campaigns to be conducted in a fair manner.

This would prevent people from saying election campaigns were unfair and held in a non-competitive environment, he said.

Garibashvili spoke to journalists today about his initiative to announce a moratorium on legal actions against political activists during the election campaign, saying it was followed by various misinterpretations.

"This is a very normal and civilized form,” he said.

"We want to conduct election campaigns in a peaceful environment and not to give anyone an opportunity to say that an election campaign was held in a non-competitive environment. Exactly for this purpose we declared a moratorium about detention of the people who are engaged in an election campaign. All was said clearly and I think there should not be additional questions.”

Garibahsvili underlined if trials were underway and severe offences had been committed, then no moratorium would be available.

"The moratorium does not apply to serious crimes. The moratorium is not about heavy crimes,” he emphasized.

Earlier today, former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava, who is accused of embezzlement and is currently on trial, said Garibahsvili’s initiative was "a farce” and it only was targeted at foreign audience. Ugulava said Garibashvili declared a "fake” moratorium in order to gain international prestige.

On April 14, Garibahsvili issued a moratorium on legal proceedings against those involved in election campaigns to help ensure a free and fair election.

He called on the country’s law enforcement agencies not to detain or apply any other form of legal restrictions on activists or political figures involved in the upcoming local self-government election.

"[Detention] should only be used as a measure of last resort and only in cases when the need is clearly justified, urgent and necessity,” Garibahsvili said.