We, the civil society organisations, strongly support the human rights defenders detained in the Georgian Parliament, who are courageously fighting against restrictions on freedom of expression. Overnight, the police arrested 7 peaceful protesters near the Parliament in a completely arbitrary, illegal and extremely aggressive manner. Those detained include the lawyer of the Institute for Tolerance and Diversity, Shota Tutberidze (who has now been released on signature), the Chairperson of the Georgian Democracy Initiative, Eduard Marikashvili, Open Society Foundation employee Saba Brachveli, activist Nika Romanadze and others.
It is concerning that Georgian society is seeing a negative trend that damages the core principles of democracy and undermines the fundamental right to freedom of expression. Through the arbitrary practice of administrative arrests, the system is trying to subject the participants and organisers of peaceful assemblies to police control, with the aim of weakening civic self-organisation, intimidating the public and harassing activists.
We call again on
– The Ministry of Interior to immediately release the detainees and stop the practice of illegal arrests;
– The Special Investigation Service – to investigate the facts of illegal detention of peaceful activists and abuse of authority by law enforcement officers;
– The Public Defender of Georgia, as the person supervising the protection of human rights on the territory of Georgia, should act with the mechanisms provided by its mandate and, inter alia, monitor the freedom of assembly and expression, the legal status of detainees on the ground;
– the Georgian Bar Association – to respond to cases of violations of the rights of lawyers.
Signatory Organisations:
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association
The Georgian Court Watch
The Democracy Defenders
The Social Justice Center
Salami
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy
Open Society Foundations
Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) – Georgia
Transparency International – Georgia
The Governance Monitoring Centre (GMC)
Rights Georgia
The Georgian Democracy Initiative
Media Ombudsman
Partnership for Human Rights
Institute for Tolerance and Diversity
Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS)
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics
Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group, WISG
Georgian Centre for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims – GCRT
Media Development Foundation
Alliance of Regional Broadcasters of Georgia
Journalism Resource Center
Source: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association
