On 16 July, the Georgian police interrogated Guram Palavandishvili, Zurab Makharadze and archpriest Tskipurishvili for the events of 5 July. After six hours of interrogation, the three individuals left the Tbilisi Main Police Department, saying that they did not inflict any violence during the 5 July rallies. In addition, police searched the apartments of the other members of the right-wing media outlet Alt-Info. The Tbilisi City Court also imprisoned Giorgi Maghradze, a person charged for violence committed in-group against Georgian Public Broadcaster’s cameraman Ilia Tvaliashvili, as requested by the prosecution. The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office insists that the cameraman’s health state remains in danger. The charged assailant protested the court decision.
Over 200 media representatives called on the General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to launch an investigation into the violence against dozens of journalists by right-wing activists at the Tbilisi Pride counter rally on July 5. Journalists have also called on the General Prosecutor’s Office to disclose the source of funding for right-wing media outlet Alt-Info. The supporters of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) gathered in front of Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to demand his resignation.
The ambassadors of 25 EU countries called on the Georgian government “to uphold the rule of law and to act in effective prevention of any future attempts at such criminal acts.” The statement followed the violent events of 5 July, where right-wing protesters attacked and assaulted journalists at the Tbilisi Pride counter rally, removed the EU flag twice from its position in front of parliament and burnt it. The statement was addressed to Interior Minister of Georgia Vakhtang Gomelauri and called for immediate and appropriate political and legal actions, noting that the recent events “cast a shadow over EU-Georgia relations.” “The European Union and Georgia share a commitment to the universality and indivisibility of human rights for all, without distinction, including on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. We share a fundamental belief in upholding every citizen’s constitutional right to the freedom of expression and assembly and the freedom of the media. These shared values are enshrined in the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights. They unite us and make us proud, but also oblige us to take action in their defence and to protect the most vulnerable persons in our societies,” the statement read.
“Intensified rhetoric against these values also poses a national security risk, increasing the vulnerability of Georgia’s democracy, already faced with significant disinformation challenges. Against this background, we call for further immediate and appropriate political and legal actions. All violent incidents and criminal acts need to be effectively and quickly investigated and duly prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Furthermore, we call on all relevant authorities to uphold the rule of law and to act in effective prevention of any future attempts at such criminal acts. Further efforts to address hate speech, incitement of hatred and intolerance need to be an integral part of these efforts,” it added.
The US Department of State (DoS) also called on Georgian leaders to publicly condemn recent violence against journalists from 5 July. The DoS spokesperson Ned Price also spoke on possible sanctions to Georgia. “We have a number of tools to hold accountable those responsible in some way for human rights abuses, for violence around the world. Sanctions are indeed one of those tools. As you know, we don’t preview sanctions before we enact them. But we are following the situation very closely, and we are committed to seeing that those responsible for this are held accountable,” he said.
The former US ambassadors to Georgia William Courtney and Kenneth Ialovich also responded to the events in the country, particularly to the death of TV Pirveli cameraman Lesko Lashkarava (Caucasus Watch reported) and the report of Georgia’s Internal Ministry (MIA) that drugs were found in his body (Caucasus Watch reported). “In autocratic societies, false accusations of drug use are often made against people in opposition to them. I am reminded of one example from Moscow, where an investigative journalist, Ivan Golunov, was accused of drug use. Several newspapers then defended the journalist and he was released. This is not the action we expect from Georgia. The West sees Georgia as a growing democracy, and such behaviour is characteristic of autocratic governments,” said Courtney. Ialovich noted that the democratic achievement which Georgia had in recent years is slowly disappearing, not only because of the events of 5 July, but also because of the political crisis created over the past year.
