PACE urges Georgian authorities to end persecution of opposition and repeal repressive laws
PACE urges Georgia to end political persecution
A delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is calling on the Georgian authorities to end the criminal prosecution of opposition politicians.
In addition, PACE co-rapporteurs on Georgia, Edith Estrella and Sabina Čudić, urged the ruling Georgian Dream party to fully implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission by repealing the controversial “foreign influence transparency” law, as well as the amendments to the Law on Grants and the Code of Administrative Offences.
The PACE delegation visited Georgia on 10–12 November. During the visit, the co-rapporteurs met with Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, MPs from Georgian Dream, and representatives of both parliamentary and non-parliamentary opposition groups.
“We reiterate what the Assembly already stated in its last resolution on Georgia. The Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, the Georgian Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Law on Grants and the current Law on Administrative Offences are incompatible with European standards and norms, and as the Venice Commission concluded, they should be repealed,” the co-rapporteurs said.
They expressed deep concern over recent criminal cases opened against leaders of opposition parties, who face long prison sentences on charges of crimes against the state.
“These charges are clearly politically motivated and should be seen in connection with the recent appeals to the Constitutional Court to ban several major opposition parties in Georgia. Such actions have no place in a democratic society. We urge the authorities to end these actions, which would effectively establish dictatorship in Georgia,” the co-rapporteurs said in their statement.
PACE representatives also expressed regret that the Georgian authorities rejected their request to visit journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli in prison.
At the same time, the co-rapporteurs said they remained ready to discuss the Assembly’s concerns and recommendations in constructive cooperation with the Georgian government.
On 15 October, the Venice Commission published an opinion prepared at the request of PACE’s Monitoring Committee on the repressive laws adopted by the Georgian Dream party concerning recipients of foreign funding. The Commission called on the party to repeal the Law on the Registration of Foreign Agents, as well as amendments to the Law on Grants and the Law on Broadcasting, which restrict independent media and NGOs from receiving foreign funding.
In its opinion, the Commission described the Anti-Corruption Bureau — the body tasked with enforcing these laws — as insufficiently independent and therefore not an institution to which such powers can be delegated.
