On June 23, PACE will discuss a report on Georgia as part of its summer plenary session. The report, “The functioning of democratic institutions in Georgia”, was prepared by Edite Estrela and Sabina Ćudić — co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The authors write that democratic backsliding in Georgia continues, as does pressure on civil society, the opposition, and dissent. They point out that none of the PACE recommendations requiring urgent implementation have been fulfilled.
This, the report notes, raises doubts about the Georgian authorities’ readiness to fulfill the obligations arising from Georgia’s membership in the Council of Europe.
The authors emphasized that the Assembly is committed to an “open and results-oriented” dialogue with both official Tbilisi and the opposition and civil society.
It is stated that “the initiative to effectively ban virtually all democratic opposition parties in Georgia and criminally prosecute their leaders on the basis of politically motivated and fabricated charges is unacceptable.”
The document states that if the Georgian authorities continue this course, such actions will lead to the establishment of a one-party dictatorship, violating citizens’ fundamental rights and democratic principles, which is incompatible with Georgia’s membership in the Council of Europe.
“[The Assembly] demands that the Georgian authorities immediately withdraw their lawsuit to the Constitutional Court seeking to ban democratic opposition parties, and end the unjust and politically motivated criminal prosecution of their leaders,” the report reads.
The Assembly calls on the Georgian authorities to launch an open and inclusive political process involving all political forces and interested civil society representatives to “restore a genuinely free and democratic political environment in the country, in line with the clearly expressed expectations and aspirations of Georgian society.”
Furthermore, the draft resolution states that “the restriction of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, including through repressive legislation and the abuse of legal mechanisms against civil society, independent media, opposition forces, and individual protesters, must be stopped immediately.” Nika Melia and Elene Khoshtaria are mentioned in this context.
