Shalva Papuashvili on Vakho Sania: He is detained because of his obscenity - I have nothing to do with it at all
"He [Vakho Sania in prison] is there because of his obscenity. I have nothing to do with it at all," answered Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili to a journalist's question regarding the detention of journalist Vakho Sania over a post written about him and Vladimer Bozhadze.
As Papuashvili noted, it is the demand of society and legislation that obscenity not be a part of the public space.
"[He is in prison] not because of me, he is there because of his obscenity. I have nothing to do with it at all. Neither me nor anyone else. Everyone is responsible for their own behavior. Everyone knows that obscenity is unacceptable in the public space. This is taught in the family, kindergarten, school, sometimes at university, and generally, life teaches a person that there should be no obscenity. If measures are taken against someone due to obscenity, it is because of their behavior. Ensuring that obscenity is not part of the public space is precisely the demand of our society and legislation.
Obscenity must disappear from the political space, and we must all take care of this—we, the opposition, journalists, and civil activists alike. We want obscenity not to be a part of political or non-political debate," Papuashvili stated.
For context, journalist Vakho Sania was detained near his home on October 19. Judge Tornike Kochkiani sentenced him to 30 days of administrative detention. The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Sania of insulting political officials due to three posts published on social media.
To recall, journalist Vakho Sania had already served a 14-day administrative detention. He was detained near his home on July 22. At that time, Vakho Sania was sentenced to 14 days of administrative detention because of a post written on social media concerning Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and MP Vladimer Bozhadze. The Tbilisi City Court was petitioned regarding the post by the Department for Combating Hate Speech, which was created within the Ministry of Internal Affairs for legal responses.
