Georgian Parliament Speaker urges ALDE response after opposition Lelo party leader’s terror admission

It has been ten days since one of the leaders of Strong Georgia - Lelo party was arrested on charges of committing a terrorist act, said on Monday Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

In a social media message, Papuashvili noted that the Lelo leader himself confessed to the crime and confirmed its political motive.

Papuashvili stressed that terrorism, as the most serious crime with an international dimension, was not subject to political interpretations, party solidarity, or ideological justification.

He added that there was no “political neutrality” toward terrorism.

“Against this background, a political party’s maintaining of close political unity with a person, who has been identified as the perpetrator of a terrorist act, creates a serious legal and ethical problem. This is no longer just a moral choice - it represents an insufficient distancing from terrorism, which contradicts the foundations of a democratic state”, the Speaker pointed out.

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Papuashvili emphasised the fact that “Lelo” is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE), noting that in the European political space, the justification of terrorism, implicit support for it or a lack of distancing from it, is incompatible with the status of the Democratic Party.

“In this context, responsibility no longer rests solely with one political party. Responsibility automatically extends to the international political union of which that party is a member. Therefore, ALDE's position on this issue is not a test of party sympathy, but of European legal and political standards; especially when it comes to the political family whose leaders include European Commissioners Kaja Kallas and Marta Kos, this issue goes beyond the internal Georgian context and moves to the level of European political responsibility”, he said.

Papuashvili further referred to the European Union Directive EU 2017/541 on combating terrorism prohibits the justification of terrorism, ideological support for terrorism, and granting of public legitimacy to terrorist acts.

The Speaker added that under the directive, encouraging terrorism or expressing political solidarity with a perpetrator created the basis for legal liability.

“The conclusion is simple: there is no political neutrality towards terrorism. Parties that encourage or have ambiguous positions on terrorism are themselves a threat to democracy”, he concluded.