Banning Harry Potter

Op-Ed

The breeze of revolution is blowing again. Members of the parliamentary majority Eka Beselia and Levan Gogichaishvili have prepared amendments to the “Law on Culture” which will grant the court the right to ban a creative work. The two argue that their aims are modest and have nothing to do with a revolution, let alone a cultural one. However, they cannot say how it will be determined what should be considered as a violation of law in a literary, musical or fine arts piece.

The authors of the said legislative initiative argue that the amendment will simplify the “Law on Culture” and that only the judge will have the right to ban a certain creative work if the latter violates the rights and legal interests of another person; if it triggers national, ethnic or racial hostility, calls for war and violence, promotes pornography and so on.

Prohibition of a creative work is mentioned in the “Law on Culture” adopted in 1997, however, as there was no mechanism of execution, and it has yet to be used. Beselia-Gogichaishvili’s initiative, hailed by them as harmless, is aimed exactly at the said “flaw”. And even though none of the former governments has ever thought of enlivening this lethargic legislative record, apparently, the authors believe that now is the time. Constitutionalist Vakhtang Zabiradze believes that adopting the amendment can be qualified as something as harsh as legalizing censorship. “There is a big threat the government will use it against creative people whenever it wants to,” he said.

Former MP Levan Berdzenishvili has made a list of creative works that could become victim to Beselia-Gogichaishvili’s legislative amendment. He thinks that Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik as well as The Knight in the Panther’s Skin could be appealed in the first place, as the first offends the religious feelings of Mazdeans, while the latter fully contradicts Orthodox Christianity. Next on the list of being under threat would be Harry Potter and The Brothers Karamazov...and there’s no doubt Picasso and Goya will also fall on the radar. We can continue this list forever, though it all depends on the taste of the governmental party, and who or what they consider as being offensive to someone’s religious feelings or violation of their rights.

Meanwhile, the main ally of the Georgian Dream in the parliamentary minority, the Alliance of Patriots, also came up with a new legislative initiative which suggests that insulting someone’s religious feelings should become punishable and could result in imprisonment for up to one year, with up to two years for those who harass religious buildings and Holinesses. However, it is not explained in the legislation what they mean by “harassment,” so it could mean anything from a misinterpreted look to a word. “In those dark and gloomy times," as the Georgian Dream describes the period of the former government, nobody even thought of touching the creative freedom of people. But apparently, now the times have changed and big politics requires a bigger sacrifice than it did nine years ago.

By Zaza Jgarkava