Appeal of Public Defender

Since the May 21 2008 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia, the situation in the sphere of human rights has seriously worsened, which calls for an adequate assessment. Twelve people have been beaten up over the last few days; one of them was a woman. Yesterday, I personally visited several of them where it became clear to me that serious attempts were clearly made to beat them to death.

The people who were brutally beaten by masked assailments were opposing the government during the elections. Consequently, if we do not react to this situation we will be forced to consider their activities as the latest state sponsored suppressive steps in the form of criminal activity committed against citizens.

The main goal of the harassing and physically assaulting those people opposing the government is not only to punish them but to threaten all of Georgian society. I repeat once more: The Georgian government has begun abusing human rights at a more serious and systematic level.

An extremely difficult situation has been established regarding freedom of speech in the country: the government take over of TV Company “Imedi” and closure of several TV Stations; suppression on the radio “Hereti” from governmental officials; prohibition of broadcasting of news programs from the studio Maestro; resignation of Irakli Tripolski from his position as chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcasting. All these facts confirm the political will of the authority to reveal the on-going situation inadequately.

Another example of the suppression on the freedom of speech was dismissal of Nona Kandiashvili, the director of the Radio “Imedi”. The radio broadcasted the news that was not impossible to receive from any other TV Stations. There are no real independent electronic media sources with the exception of just some examples.

Harassment of people and restriction of freedom of speech is directly connected to one another. In the country, where free words are not heard, a citizen is alone and unprotected against abusive and suppression elements of the state machinery. Under such conditions, harassment of a person aims at frightening society so that no one chooses to object or question the authorities.

Protection of human rights and freedom of person is inalienable. Our society lacks these two values mostly. The Parliamentary elections of May 21 exposed the deficiency in this sphere most of all. As a human being, I consider it is my obligation and duty to support our society and fight for the protection of human rights and freedom for each and every one of us.