“For these 300 days we’ve been observing that, in most cases, the number of people has been insufficient to justify blocking a road — yet the road was still being blocked,” said Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani in an interview with one of the media outlets.
According to Ioseliani, it is necessary to ensure both the freedom of expression for citizens and the right to movement for those traveling along Rustaveli Avenue.
“I will try to show the public objectively where the boundaries of the right to expression lie — when blocking a road is permissible and when it becomes a violation of the law, not only in Georgia but in any country where protests take place. Generally, a road may be blocked only when there are enough people to justify it. During these 300 days, we observed that, in most cases, the number of people was too small to justify closing the road — yet it was still closed. The key is maintaining proportion. Freedom of expression must be protected, but so must the right to movement of those traveling along Rustaveli.
It’s unacceptable for ten, twenty, or even a hundred people to obstruct traffic and block a road. Honestly, I don’t understand this year-long fixation with closing streets. I can only describe it as an obsession — as if the main goal were simply to block Rustaveli Avenue. It’s a fixation of a certain group of people, and nothing good comes of it.
In the end, we ended up with legislation that will also affect those citizens who take to the streets to protest social issues — such as rising medicine prices, violations of labor rights, or illegal construction. That’s the saddest part, and what worries me most. Of course, the arrest of any person is bad, and I don’t welcome it. It would be better if everything could end without detentions or fines. Naturally, such situations are regrettable, but this isn’t unique to Georgian law — it’s the same everywhere: a handful of people are not allowed to block a road; no country would permit it. The law in Georgia is no exception — it’s the same as elsewhere.
I want to say to these people: what’s behind all this? What’s the motive? What angers me most is that those who call on others to block the streets haven’t received a single fine, never blocked a road themselves, and never spent a single day in prison — yet they’re very good at ‘pulling the nettles with someone else’s hands,” - Levan Ioseliani said.
