Civil activist Tornike Razmadze faces a fine or administrative detention over a profanity-containing comment he wrote on Facebook about Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan. “The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia is accusing me of insulting and swearing at Russian propagandists Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Solovyov,” the activist said in a video address on 10 September.

Proceedings against the activist were launched on the basis of a report drawn up by the “Division for Monitoring Hate Speech.” The case was initiated under Article 166 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which concerns “petty hooliganism” and is punishable by a fine of GEL 500 to GEL 3,000 or administrative detention of up to 20 days.

As it appears, the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ “Division for Monitoring Hate Speech” initiated proceedings over a comment written under a video uploaded by Tornike Razmadze himself on social media. The video compares statements made by Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan and Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze regarding the Treaty of Georgievsk. In the comment, Razmadze uses obscene language toward the respondents in the video.