On the 31th of May 2011 the Parliament of Georgia adopted the so-called "Freedom Charter", which prohibits the Communist ideology and the use of Soviet symbols in the public areas.
After the change of governing power the new Parliament of Georgia extended the list of symbols that are prohibited by law and there were specified sanctions for violation of the law.
Georgia introduced a penalty for the use of Soviet symbols on the 30th of December 2013. The Parliament of Georgia adopted an amendment to the "Freedom Charter" that imposed administrative liability for the use of Soviet symbols in public areas.
Despite some easing of the total pressure on political opponents, there has not stopped the falsification of Soviet history and attempts to declare socialism as a criminal system. It still remains one of the main arguments of the authorities to justify continuing the anti-people policies of the capitalist system and unconditional promote NATO's interests in the South Caucasus region.
We, the Secretariat of the "Initiative" express our protest against the overt violation of universally recognized international human right of freedom of expression. The ban of Communist ideology represents a prohibition for many thousands of Georgian citizens to freely express their opinion about Georgia's Soviet past. These citizens positively assess the role of the Communist Party in the history of country and believe that the Soviet period of the history of Georgia is a period of development and prosperity for the country.
Prohibition of the Communist ideology is in fact the banning the activities of the Unified Communist Party of Georgia as a political party, this is because the purpose of this party is to promote socialism and communism!
Since the Georgian Constitution guarantees citizens the freedom of speech the law contradicts the fundamental law of Georgia itself and it is unconstitutional.
The law has already revealed its inhuman, unhistorical essence in practice. In Georgia thee has been barbarously destroyed some of the cultural creations dedicated to the Soviet era.
We call on the Georgian Parliament to cancel the above-mentioned law regarding the ban of Communist symbols and ideology, thus remove the legal basis for the inevitable unconstitutional and anti-democratic actions of the executive branch to comply with the above law.

Brussels, 27.01.2014