Ombudsman Demands Investigation of Violation Rights for Assembly and Manifestation

Georgian Public Defender demanded Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Regional Prosecutor and the head of the Senaki Department of the Internal Ministry to investigate the fact of the attempt to breach the right for peaceful assembly and public manifestation.

Public Defender has learned that members of the opposition party are being threatened and warned against arriving in Tbilisi to participate in the demonstration schedule for May 26.

Representatives of the Public Defender interviewed Nana Pazhava and Ioseb Khoperia, journalists for the Radio Imedi and Radio “Mtsvane Talga. Journalists reported that strange people called members of the political party “Tavisfuleba” which is part of the bloc of the United Opposition and warned them against participating in any protest demonstration. Strangers have also insulted Ioseb Khoperia from the same phone number. Despite the threats, members of the political party “Tavisufleba” departed for Tbilisi and journalists followed them. The journalists reported that in Zugdidi they were being constantly watched.

Near the village of Teklati four masked people in black attacked the mini-bus where the journalists and members of the party were sitting. They broke the windows of the bus with an automatic weapon. The mini-bus continued its way and approached the Senaki patrol police station 700 meters away. The car of attackers was chasing after them. Passengers of the mini-bus asked the police officers to stop the car and arrest the people who were sitting in it. The police did chase the car; however; five minutes later they returned and claimed that could not catch them. 

Public Defender considers the action of the attackers must be envisaged under the Article 187 of the Criminal Code-damage of property belonging to a stranger. In addition, there is also reasonable suspicion that the crime may have been committed by employees of the Constitutional Security Department who had been watching the demonstrators and journalists before they departed for the capital. They called them on the phones and warned them to not travel to Tbilisi.

The harassers then tried to prevent the activists of the Zugdidi office of “Tavisfuleba” to participate in the demonstration in Tbilisi. Under such circumstances the state is obliged to carry out appropriate activities in order to guarantee the security of demonstrators from any kind of harassment. Masked men breached the freedom of assembling by members of the “Tavisupleba” party and they must be charged under the Article 161 of the Criminal Code that states that covers the breaching of the right of assembly and manifestation through violent means, and through threats or through abuse of one’s power.

The apparent negligence of the Senaki district police is also remarkable. They did not react in the fact of attack in a timely fashion that deprived them from the chance to arrest the suspects when they had the immediate opportunity. 

The Public Defender sent all the materials he had on the incident to Roland Akhalaia, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti regional prosecutor and Varlam Chachua, the head of Senaki Police Department. The materials consist of the phone numbers from where the party members had been threatened; the license numbers of the cars that watched party members and journalists in Zugdidi; the numbers of the cars by which the masked men had used in attacking the mini-bus. The public defender demands that Akhalaia and Chachua appropriately react to the accident immediately.

The Georgian public defender is now waiting for the information from the Samegrelo Region related to the case.

Source: Medianews