Armenian PM terrifies own citizens – Russian MFA azərbaycan24
Day: March 20, 2024
Reuters: Pope Francis on Wednesday issued a fresh call for peace through negotiation as he deplored the bloody conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and once again limited his public speaking at his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square due to lingering health issues.
“We should never forget that…
In a lengthy letter posted on social media on March 20, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili accused the Georgian Media Advocacy Coalition, a local press freedom watchdog, of “celebrating” the fact that European organizations had commented on the “discrediting of a prominent Georgian journalist”. Papuashvili lamented the Media Freedom Rapid Response partners’ assessment that his comments on journalist Gela Mtivlishvili came “amid a broader wave of smear campaigns against independent media in Georgia”.
Papuashvili’s letter is a response to the statement issued by Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partner organizations. In the statement, the media organizations condemned the cases of attacks on the media, including the discrediting campaigns against and pressure on journalists in Georgia, including by the Speaker.
Papuashvili repeats criticism of journalist Mtivlishvili for his journalistic work, particularly his coverage of the tragic landslide in Shovi last year, saying he had spread “unverified information” and misled society. The Speaker slams Mtivlishvili for blaming the Government for failing to avert the landslide and the deaths, including by failing to have a well-functioning early warning system. Papuashvili mentions an “independent Swiss organization” which, he says, recently investigated the disaster and agreed with the main conclusion of the State Environmental Agency, on the basis of which “Mtivlishvili’s allegations were indeed misleading”.
He claims that Mtivlishvili’s reporting “did not fit journalistic standards and was far from human empathy.” Moreover, according to Papuashvili, Mtivlishvili’s reporting aimed at “spreading panic.”
Criticizing Mtivlishvili for “spreading disinformation”, Speaker Papuashvili then notes “that not a single journalistic organization has tried to establish the truth, before defending Mtivlishvili due to “corporate solidarity”.
Complaining that “not a single journalistic organization attempted to establish the truth before defending Mtivlishvili” due to the alleged “corporate solidarity” Papuashvili writes that this case “illustrates a significant malaise characteristic of Georgian ‘critical’ journalism and their foreign partners” whereby “any criticism and accusations, leveled by the media against the government, must be accepted at its face value, but also recognized as perfectly legitimate and true by the very fact that they are reported by journalists.”
Papuashvili complains that “any expression of doubt… from the government officials”, and repeating by a government official of his or her counter-criticism, “becomes a ‘systemic pressure’ against the media”.
Parliament Speaker argues that “criticism of journalists must be accepted as part of normal debate within a democratic society.” He slams “overzealous foreign partners,” which, according to him “seem to be so anxious to ‘expose’ violations of press freedom that they take every criticism of the media, even if justified, as a ‘public discreditation’ of a particular journalist or a media outlet.”
“Georgia is a safe country for journalists but this should not mean they are free to spread disinformation. Every time they allow inaccuracies, they will be criticized. And this is normal,” Papuashvili concludes.
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47 civil society organizations said in a joint statement published on March 20 that the “issue of improving the judiciary cannot be closed because this requirement of the European Commission is an important prerequisite for the opening of accession negotiations with Georgia,” reacting to earlier statements by the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament that the issue of “vetting” of judges ” was closed” on their part.
According to the watchdogs, the creation of a mechanism to check the integrity of senior judges and candidates is aimed at ensuring an impartial judiciary and EU membership. “By closing this issue, the government, against the will of the Georgian people, puts the European integration process at risk”.
The CSOs said there are “fundamental questions about the integrity of the people in the leading positions in the judiciary, and about the possession of property incompatible with their official salaries”. The CSOs also recalled the sanctions imposed by the United States on several key judges.
In this context, the watchdogs believe it should be in the interests of the judges and the government to remove all the question marks, adding that “if there is no problem with the integrity of the judges, it is unclear to us why the political and judicial authorities oppose this process”.
The CSOs called on the authorities to recognize the existing problems in the judiciary, and to start the “actual implementation” of the nine conditions defined by the European Commission.
On March 19, the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze reiterated that the issue of “vetting” of judges is “closed”, as it “contradicts the Constitution of Georgia”. On the same day, the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili repeated the ruling party’s position, arguing that the opposition and civil society had failed to provide examples of systemic problems in the judiciary.
Instead of hearing “concern and apology” towards the judges from NGOs, the opposition and some Embassies who were part of “discreditation campaign”, Papuashvili complained, “we see an arrogant position that we have to tear apart the Constitution of Georgia, forget our independence and say that we are a people who are not capable of governing our own country…”.
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On March 12-14, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe expressed “serious concern” over the lack of promptness in Georgia’s exaction of the ECtHR judgments during the discussions on the Tsintsabadze Group cases, which concern deaths, torture and other forms of ill-treatment and ineffective investigation of these acts, most of which were attributed to law enforcement and prison officials.
The Committee of Ministers closed the supervision of the cases of Mzekalishvili, Kopadze, and Chantladze because the Georgian authorities “complied with their undertaking in the friendly settlements to carry out new investigations.” They also closed the cases of Tsintsabadze, Mindadze, and Nemsitsveridze, as well as Mikiashvili (as regards the events of 2006), because further investigation in these cases is impossible due to “the absence of possibilities for obtaining additional evidence as well as the expiry of the statute of limitations”.
The Committee of Ministers noted the progress in the investigation of the Sgt. Roin Shavadze’s 2008 Homicide Case, however “expressed serious concern over the lack of promptness in the other pending investigations and strongly urged the authorities once again to take all the necessary measures to complete them speedily and thoroughly.”
The Committee also requested the Georgian authorities to “submit consolidated information on all pending investigations, including on the steps taken or foreseen to overcome obstacles encountered, and planned investigative measures to achieve concrete results”. In addition, the Committee suggested that the authorities ensure the expeditious re-examination of the case files of Machalikashvili and others and Ochigava, and inform the applicants and the Committee of the decision to reopen these investigations.
Committee of Ministers Recommendations
The CoE Committee of Ministers calls on the Government of Georgia to strengthen the independence and effectiveness of the Special Investigative Service (SIS) by “further aligning its remit with the institution’s primary role of investigating serious human rights violations committed by state agents and by ensuring a stronger independence of the SIS from the prosecutorial authorities.”
The Committee also notes that, despite the satisfactory decision of the Constitutional Court to increase the possibilities for victims to seek judicial review of prosecutorial decisions, serious concerns remain about the persistent shortcomings in the granting of formal procedural status to victims, which remains a prerequisite for their meaningful participation in investigations. The Ministers urge the Georgian authorities to take legislative or practical measures to address this issue in a systematic and sustainable manner.
The Committee of Ministers urges Georgia to enact legislative changes to prevent impunity and ensure compliance with Convention requirements. It also calls for strengthening safeguards against ill-treatment, including expanding video/audio recordings of interactions between law enforcement and individuals, and providing comprehensive statistics on investigations and the granting victim status and suspension of state agents during the investigation.
Machalikashvili and others v. Georgia
One of the cases of the Tsintsabadze group is the case of Machalikashvili and others v. Georgia, in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on January 19, 2023 unanimously found that there had been a violation of the protection provided by Article 2 of the Convention – the right to life – in its procedural aspect, and concluded by six votes to one that there had been no violation of the same article in its substantive aspect (right to life).
18-year-old Temirlan Machalikashvili was shot in the head in the process of his detention in December 2017. Machalikashvili died of his injuries in January 2018 in a Tbilisi hospital. According to the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG), he attempted to resist the security forces and tried to detonate a hand grenade, to which the SSG operatives responded with “proportional force.” Machalikashvili’s family denies this and claims he was asleep when officers entered his room and opened fire.
The local watchdog and defender of Machalikashvili’s rights, the Social Justice Center (SJC), reported on March 20 that the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers are fully in line with the demands of Georgian civil society organizations to the government. SJC noted that for 11 months it and Machalikashvili’s family have been unsuccessfully requesting that the Special Investigative Service reopens the case.
With this aim, the watchdog has submitted to the SIS a list of important investigative measures, the implementation of which is of “crucial importance” in the context of the new investigation, and also requested the opening of a new investigation into the falsification and destruction of evidence. However, the SIS has left the requests unanswered, “which raises reasonable doubts about the independence of the said service,” SJC noted.
“We call on the authorities, in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers, to immediately reopen the investigation into the case of Temirlan Machalikashvili and to ensure that all necessary investigative measures are taken,” stressed SJC.
Also Read:
- 20/11/2023 – Human Rights Watchdog Urges Swift Action on ECHR Ruling for Machalikashvili Case Investigation
- 06/04/2023 – CoE Report Says “Lack of Legislative Reform” in Georgia
- 28/01/2020 – Prosecutor’s Office Terminates Investigation into Machalikashvili Case
- 13/01/2020 – Watchdog Assesses Machalikashvili Case Materials Containing State Secrets
- 01/10/2019 – ECHR Launches Consideration of Machalikashvili Case