On July 2, civic activists were conducting an information campaign “Going  Home to Europe” in the city of Marneuli, during which they were assaulted by the Marneuli City Hall and City Council employees. They verbally abused Samira Bayramova and attempted to physically abuse her. The police tried to defuse the confrontation, but did not respond appropriately to prevent illegal actions by the local government employees.

Civic activist Samira Bayramova became the object of abuse. Local government employees used abusive language and tried to engage in physical confrontation with her. It is doubly offensive and unacceptable that the head of the Women's Room of Marneuli City Hall, Rima Otarashvili, whose direct duty is to promote the role and function of women in self-government activities and ensure the elimination of socio-economic and political inequality of women living in the municipality, participated in the offensive campaign against the activists.

After July 2, the Chairman of the City Council, Amiran Giorgadze, the Head of the Office of the City Council and other employees have been actively trying to discredit both the activists and media representatives on social networks. The Chairman of the City Council, the Head of the Office of the City Council Office, as well as an employee of the City Hall, Irma Zarkua, who was in the vanguard of the July 2 confrontation, continue to insult civil activists, media representatives and the head of Radio Marneuli, Kamila Mamedova. It is worth stressing and unacceptable that the threats of disclosure of facts about her private life come from the Chairperson of the City Council and other employees of the municipality.

The rude and illegal forms of “freedom of expression” by the employees of the City Hall and the City Council constitute a violation of the ethical norms of a public servant under the Law of Georgia on Public Service and represent a behavior inappropriate for a public servant. In particular, legislation establishes the obligation of a public servant to observe general rules of ethics and conduct. In accordance with Articles 72 and 77 of the Law of Georgia on Public Service, any civil servant is obliged to adhere to the principles of public service (political neutrality; legality; adherence to ethical rules) and to refrain from actions that would endanger the reputation of the public service. Public servants are obliged to respect the Constitution of Georgia, fundamental human rights and freedoms, and to serve the interests of people and the state.

The obvious, offensive behavior, hate speech and social media activities of civil servants employed in the municipality, directly and blatantly violate the principles of public service, are incompatible with ethical values, and violate the right to respect for private life of many people. In addition, there are reasonable suspicions that the actions of these officials are motivated by party interests, which also violates the principle of political neutrality.

According to Article 132 of the Law of Georgia on Conflict of Interest and Corruption in Public Service, a public servant shall carry out his/her activities on the basis of legislation of Georgia, in accordance with the general rules of conduct of a public servant. A public servant shall avoid any action that would harm his/her personal reputation, the reputation of the relevant public institution or the state service/public service.

According to Article 6 of Resolution No. 200 of the Government of Georgia of April 20, 2017 “On Determining General Rules of Ethics and Conduct in Public Institutions”, a public servant, while performing his official duties, shall refrain from any actions, statements and/or social activities that may be perceived as promoting the interests of a specific political party through means of communication, including social networks.

According to Article 11 of the same resolution, a public servant shall refrain from publicly using hate speech and/or making discriminatory comments that may call into question the impartial and objective exercise of his/her official powers. A servant, while performing his/her official duties, shall also refrain from actions, statements and/or social activities that may call into question the proper performance of his/her official duties. It is noteworthy that according to Article 85, paragraph 1, subparagraph “c”, of the Law of Georgia on Public Service, disregard for or violation of ethical norms and general rules of conduct aimed at discrediting a servant and a public institution, regardless of whether it is committed at work or outside of work, is considered a disciplinary offence, and accordingly shall be grounds for the municipality to immediately initiate disciplinary proceedings. As noted, the inappropriate behavior of a servant damages the reputation of a specific service and the state. The situation is aggravated by the fact that actions inconsistent with the rules of conduct of the public service continue to this day. The aforementioned individuals systematically continue to publicly attack activists on social networks, insult them, publish personal data, and use hate speech, both during working and non-working hours. Therefore, it is necessary for the municipality to respond immediately, both to protect the rights of specific activists and to stop the process that is tarnishing the reputation of the municipality and the state.

Today, as Georgia is on the path of EU accession, the state has a direct obligation to conduct policies so that to reduce sharp polarization, cooperate with the civil sector and the media. Such actions by the self-government impede Georgia’s EU accession, strengthen polarization, and present the self-government as a union of violent people.

We, civil activists, media representatives, and civil society, express our concern about the current situation and call on the Marneuli City Hall Office to:

Immediately initiate disciplinary proceedings for the publicly committed and ongoing misconduct:

Dismiss Rima Otarashvili and Irma Zarkua from their positions;

Dismiss the Deputy Director of the Association of Kindergartens (Preschool Education Center) of the Marneuli Municipality (non-commercial legal entity), Soso Inadze, who violated the law, verbally insulted and swore at Samira Bayramova.

Certain individuals of the self-government should stop expressing themselves through insults and immediately begin cooperation with the media and civil sector.

We, the signatories to this petition, confirm our readiness to stop the meaningless and discrediting campaign! We call on the self-government to establish cooperation and consensus-based relations with both the media and representatives of the civil sector.

The petition is joined and its spirit is shared by:

Social Justice Center

Rights Georgia

Democratic Research Institute (DRI)

Georgian Alliance of Regional Broadcasters  

Media Ombudsman

Partnership for Human Rights

Television Network

Sapari

Femina

Marneuli Center for Civic Engagement

Society of Democratic Women of Marneuli

Transparency International Georgia

Georgian Democracy Initiative

Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics

Democracy Defenders

Caucasus Open Space

Journalistic Network for Gender Equality

Cognitive Center of Georgia

Activate Activism