On October 30 – international day of solidarity to political prisoners – Human Rights Center and the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders will hold an action “Freedom to political prisoners, truth to the society.” Action will be held at 16:00 p.m. at Gldani Prison.
Family members and lawyers of political prisoners, as well as politicians who are campaigning for the release of political prisoners in Georgia will take part in the action.

In 2009 Human Rights Center has studied and documented tens of cases of persecution on political grounds. Human Rights Center has repeatedly called on the Georgian government to release these people.

In 2009 the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) studied the allegations about persecutions on political grounds in Georgia and concluded that political prisoners exist in the country. The cases documented in their report mainly demonstrate how some political opponents, founders of the political opposition and influential individuals linked to the opposition are arrested and detained after being sentenced in totally- or partially-fabricated judicial cases. The most frequently used charges involve illegal storage of weapons or drugs, extortion, and attempting to overthrow the government.

The OSCE report on Georgia’s May 2008 parliamentary elections highlights, in the specific context of elections repression of the opposition by the majority government party. The OSCE’ election observatory mission reported cases where authorities threatened arrest and bargained for release, directly linked to opposition activism.

For further details about the action please contact:

Ana Natsvlishvili 8 57 36 26 84
Roman Apakidze 8 77 78 06 08