Georgia’s ruling party official: extremist groups follow destructive scenario, law enforced with full strictness

A small number of extremist groups remain in the country, and they are directly paid - not a day passes without us seeing the ways through which they are financed in violation of the law, said on Tuesday Irakli Kirtskhalia, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the legislative body.

In his remarks, Kirtskhalia noted that extremist groups continued to operate in Georgia, demonstratively following a destructive scenario, but the law was being enforced against them with full strictness.

“The extremist groups operating in the country are openly following a dirty, destructive scenario and trying to carry it out. However, the law is being applied to them with full strictness, and this will continue”, the Chair said.

He further added that they could protest as long as they wished - “we see no problem with that”.

“Freedom of speech is not punishable in our country; what is punishable is the violation of the law that they promote every day. There is no problem if a small group continues to stand for years, as long as it acts within the law. But they must not violate it. If they claim that breaking the law is their only leverage and that twenty people should be able to cause discomfort to a city of one and a half million, then we say that we will respond to such actions in accordance with the law”, Kirtskhalia concluded.