The Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Division for Combating Hate Speech accuses Giorgi Gogia of an administrative offence over a post published on Facebook. According to the Ministry, by sharing a post about Bera Ivanishvili, Gogia verbally insulted him and disturbed public order.

The case was heard by Judge Tornike Kochkiani at Tbilisi City Court. The hearing held on 19 June lasted for more than an hour, while the stage of explanations was postponed until 26 June.

Gogia’s lawyer, Mikheil Zakareishvili, argues that the case does not sufficiently substantiate how the Ministry of Internal Affairs identified the author of the post, or what scale of audience the post reached. According to him, the post published on social media had only 35 reactions and one comment.

According to the MIA lawyer, there is no need to examine Bera Ivanishvili in court, as the alleged insult and petty hooliganism had already been “identified by the relevant officer.”

The Division for Combating Hate Speech has been operating within the Ministry of Internal Affairs since 1 June. According to publicly available information, as of 15 June, the division had submitted approximately 60 cases to courts.