The Supervisory Service of Ozurgeti Municipality City Hall fined the non-governmental organization Civil Movement for Freedom first 1500 GEL, and then 3000 GEL, for displaying a protest banner on the balcony of its office. The municipal inspection deemed the inscription Russian Dream Stole The Elections on the banner as inappropriate advertising.
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"They placed an inappropriate advertisement on rented property. What kind of advertisement? If we have a retaliatory dispute in court, we will address it there," said an employee of the municipal inspection two days ago, after the organization was fined 1500 GEL.
Civil activist Irma Gordeldze, head of Civil Movement for Freedom, stated that they contacted her by phone today to inform her of an additional 3000 GEL fine.
"There is no one in the office today. They called our employee and told him that we were fined 3000 GEL. Of course, we are not going to pay anything, and we will appeal the protocols to the court once they are handed over. We connect all this with the fact that during the elections, we were part of the observer coalition My Vote which uncovered serious violations. They don't like our activity. Additionally, our office is located near the Georgian Dream office, and it seems they don’t want to see such a banner," Irma Gordeldze told Georgian News.
According to Otar Revishvili, one of the founders of the organization, the state is illegally restricting their constitutional right to freedom of expression:
"Repression has started against us. The inspectors threatened to fine us 3000 GEL every day. We are an activist group, and all this is meant to intimidate us and silence us. The system is trying to suppress dissent through various mechanisms."
The Law of Georgia On Advertising defines "inappropriate advertising" as follows: "Dishonest, untrustworthy, unethical, misleading, or other advertising that violates the requirements established by Georgian legislation regarding its content, time, place, or manner of distribution." Placement of inappropriate advertising results in a fine of 1500 GEL for a legal entity, and a 3000 GEL fine for the person responsible for placing the advertisement.
