On February 3,
after the party session, the leader of the Georgian Dream, Mamuka
Mdinaradze, announced the
tightening of
the repressive policy
by introducing amendments to legislation.
Georgian Dream is
extremely tightening sanctions for the administrative
norms it has been using especially actively in the past few months without any
legal grounds. For example, fines for petty hooliganism, vandalism,
disobeying the orders
of law enforcement officers and insulting
them, blocking court entrances and other similar administrative violations will
be further
increased, while
the term of administrative detention
is planned to be increased from 15
to 60 days. In addition, holding rallies in closed spaces
and buildings will be prohibited
without the consent of the owner.
According to the
announced changes, verbal insults to a
state political official or public servant in connection with his or her
activities will be
defined as administrative violations, for which severe sanctions will
be provided. According to the European Court
of Human Rights, public servants
and political officials have a special obligation of tolerance, including when being verbally insulted. The implementation of the
mentioned change completely ignores the standard of tolerance established for public servants
and political officials, which will be
achieved by extreme restrictions on freedom of speech and expression.
In addition to the Administrative Offences Code, amendments are also planned to be made to the Criminal Code:
By tightening
legislation, Georgian Dream is trying to drastically reduce dissent in the
country. The aim of disproportionate sanctions, which completely contradict the
Constitution of Georgia, international standards, and the practice of the
European Court, is to instill fear in people with a different opinion. The
announcement of tougher legislative changes has a chilling effect on the right
to assembly and expression. This problem is
further exacerbated by the biased judiciary,
which, especially recently, has been using the maximum sentences provided for by law against
demonstrators.
5 თებერვალს, ,,ქართული ოცნების“ ლიდერმა მამუკა მდინარაძემ საზოგადოებას ახალი რეპრესიული კანონმდებლობის მიღება დაუანონსა.
არასამთავრობო ორგანიზაციების სამართლებრივი დახმარების ქსელის იურისტები განაგრძობენ მშვიდობიანი დემონსტრანტების უფლებების დაცვას.
On February 2, at a protest rally held in the vicinity of Tbilisi Mall, Georgian Dream again restricted the right to assembly and expression illegally.