Georgian Parliament Speaker: radical opposition’s justification of terrorism reveals dangerous moral degradation

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said that the radical opposition’s attempts to justify Aleko Elisashvili’s attempted terrorist act as serving “just goals” perfectly illustrate the essence of terrorism and signal a dangerous evolution that could eventually lead to justifying completed murders.

In a social media message, Papuashvili criticised the reaction of opposition figures to Elisashvili’s final statement, describing it as a typical example of terrorist thinking and warning of the broader implications for Georgian society.

“It would probably have been impossible to portray the essence of a terrorist act more precisely than the prominent representatives of the radical opposition have done themselves. Since yesterday, we have been reading and hearing assessments about the political motives behind Elisashvili's actions, which, in reality, directly demonstrate why this is, in fact, a case of terrorism”, Papuashvili said.

The Speaker argued that terrorists always seek noble justifications for their crimes, such as fighting injustice or oppression.

“When we speak about terrorism, we must understand that terrorists are not unmotivated maniacs. Every one of them attempts to find a noble justification for their crime. Sometimes it is presented as a fight for freedom, sometimes for justice, and sometimes under some other pretext. That is precisely why Elisashvili's final statement was a typical example of terrorist thinking - claiming that he was fighting injustice, oppression, and an occupier. However, the declared objective of the perpetrator cannot justify a crime. On the contrary, justifying violence on political or ideological grounds is one of the defining characteristics of terrorism”, he noted.

“Within minutes of the verdict being announced, another fact became clear - we are not dealing with just one specific act of terrorism. We are witnessing a group of individuals who possess a terrorist mindset. While they claim to oppose the Soviet past in words, in practice they have become devoted followers of the principal moral formula of Bolshevik terror: ‘the end justifies the means’”, Papuashvili continued.

He further highlighted that the issue extends beyond a single individual, asserting that some representatives of the radical opposition have gradually normalised increasingly severe forms of political violence.

“They arrived at this point logically and consistently. In just a few years, we have witnessed before our eyes what can be described as the evolution of evil:

▪️ First, they justified verbal abuse and attacks on human dignity;
▪️ Then they justified physical violence and assaults on people's health;
▪️ After that, they justified setting Parliament on fire and storming the Presidential Palace - that is, attacks against the state and its constitutional institutions;
▪️ And now they are attempting to provide political and moral justification for terrorism, one of humanity's most unequivocal evils”, he stressed.

The Speaker warned that tolerating or defending each successive form of violence weakens society's moral standards and creates conditions in which even more serious crimes may be justified.

“When a person justifies each successive level of violence, the moral boundary of what is considered acceptable becomes increasingly blurred. Therefore, society must clearly recognise that those who today justify an attempted terrorist attack as serving just goals will tomorrow, by the same logic, justify a completed murder. Especially considering that we have repeatedly witnessed representatives of the same political circle publicly expressing joy over the deaths of their opponents”, Papuashvili said.

“Thus, whether willingly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously, this entire cohort has evolved into a hostile fifth column acting against the country - one that believes it has been given a green light from abroad for radicalism, extremism, and now even terrorism”, he concluded.

Aleko Elisashvili, one of the leaders of the opposition Strong Georgia - Lelo, on Friday was found guilty by the court on charges of attempting to commit a terrorist act. Judge Giorgi Gelashvili sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

The case concerns an incident that took place in the administrative building of the Tbilisi City Court, where employees of the Court Enforcement Service stopped Elisashvili’s actions, after which he was detained by law enforcement officers at the scene.

Elisashvili was charged under Article 19-323(1) of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which refers to an attempt to commit a terrorist act. The offence carries a sentence of 10 to 15 years of imprisonment.