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Complete Report on Political Prisoners in Georgia Will Be Released in Near Future

Complete Report on Political Prisoners in Georgia Will Be Released in Near Future

FIDH and HRIDC announce the release of their joint report on political prisoners in Georgia

Today at 2pm the Human Rights Centre (HRIDC), FIDH member organisation in Georgia, unveiled some parts of the organisations joint report on political prisoners to be released next week

Tbilisi – Paris, July 30, 2009.  The report is the result of an international investigative mission that took place in Tbilisi on 19-25 February 2009, and concludes that there are indeed persons detained in Georgia who should be considered political prisoners according to the Council of Europe's definition. 

The mission interviewed family members and lawyers of alleged political prisoners, representatives of Georgian human rights NGOs; international organisations and Georgian authorities.  Despite FIDH's formal requests, Georgia’s government did not allow the fact-finding mission to meet with several alleged political prisoners.

The report examines eight pilot cases that demonstrate how some political opponents were arrested and detained after being sentenced in totally- or partially-fabricated judicial cases. The charges most frequently used involve illegal storage of weapons or drugs, extortion, and attempt to overthrow the government.

The authors conclude by calling upon the Georgian government to support the establishment of a Council of Europe group of independent experts in charge of examining the cases of alleged political prisoners in Georgia.  They also invite the Georgian authorities to provide FIDH with evidence refuting its fact-finding mission conclusions and/or engage FIDH in a constructive dialogue on the issue of political prisoners in Georgia