In Georgia, blocking the CEC building was criminalized before the elections

The Georgian authorities included the building of the Central Election Commission (CEC), courts and the Georgian Orthodox Church in the list of strategic objects. Now citizens will be responsible before the law for blocking them. The resolution was adopted on October 24, two days before voting in the parliamentary elections.

This is reported by Echo of the Caucasus.

Resolution No. 361 was signed by the Prime Minister of Georgia Iraklii Kobakhidze. The list of strategic objects was defined for two articles of the Criminal Code:

• according to Article 222, the seizure or blocking of a strategic object, which prevents its operation, is punishable by imprisonment for up to two years; if the crime was committed by a group of people — up to four years in prison;
• seizing or blocking a building of special importance for carrying out a terrorist attack is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years.

"This shows that they will try to put us on a psychological foothold, create a tense situation. No one is going to make a coup. The CEC building should be where it is, the commission should publish the real election results, and everyone will be satisfied," Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili commented on the officialsʼ decision.

Presumably, the authorities included the CEC in the list of strategic objects to prevent protests that could break out after the voting results were announced. In August of this year, part of the territory around the building in Tbilisi was surrounded by iron fences. As explained in the press service of the department, this was done for the safety and protection of employees.

• Parliamentary elections in Georgia will be held on October 26, they are considered decisive for the future course of the state. Recent polls predict that the ruling party "Georgian Dream" will get 35% of the vote, and the four main opposition forces — 52%.
• The ruling party was founded by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili. He publicly promises political repression after the elections, in which "Georgian Dream" wants to win again. The party adheres to a pro-Russian course of policy, copies Russian laws, in particular on " foreign agents " and restrictions on the rights of LGBT people.
• Because of these draft laws, in the spring and summer of 2024, people went to mass protests in the capital and other cities. When the norms were finally adopted, the European Union froze the process of Georgiaʼs integration, and on October 4 suspended high-level meetings.

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Author: Anastasiia Mohylevets