One Year Since July 5 Events in Tbilisi
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, published a statement on one year since the violent actions that happened on July 5, 2021.
“One year has passed since the events of July 5, and today, society is still waiting for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. This is the reality on the background of which pro-Russian, violent, homophobic, and aggressive groupings intensified and strengthened during this period, in a country whose territories of 20% are occupied by Russia, which is completely unacceptable. Their empowerment is damaging our European perspective.”
The President also responded to a constitutional claim prepared by the Public Defender.
“Some believe that the answer to this is to ban their activities, but the ban in a country with democratic principles should be the last, extreme step and reinforced by strong legal arguments so as not to remain in doubt that there is an infringement of freedom of speech and expression here. However, based on the principles of the same democratic countries similar decisions may also be needed.
Zourabichvili stated that before making this extreme decision, everyone should take their share of responsibility. It must be unacceptable to protect these groups and encourage their pro-Russian and anti-European propaganda.
Particularly, she focused on the responsibility of the government. In her opinion, the most important point in this regard is adherence to the principle of insecurity of the law, which implies responsibility for the crime committed, effective control of their activities, and identifying the sources of their funding. According to her, it is the immediate responsibility of the government to prevent such groups from failing to interfere with Georgia's European perspective!
The Public Defender of Georgia has prepared a constitutional claim, which, if satisfied, the Conservative Movement party, known as the Alt-Info party in society, will be abolished. The Ombudswoman herself does not have the right to file the relevant claim to the Constitutional Court, so she intends to offer the draft lawsuit to the entities with this right.
On July 5, the Public Defender released a statement noting that the conservative movement's statements “contain signs of overthrowing the constitutional order, stirring up various types of feuds, encouraging violence or containing signs of violence itself and constitute war propaganda.”
Here, it’s also important that the European Court of Human Rights accepted the Georgian Democratic Initiative (GDI) complaint for consideration in the Tbilisi Pride case, noting that the case may be of precedent importance.
It comes following homophobic violence, attacks, and threats against the LGBTQI+ community and activists carried out on July 5, 2021. Consequently, the plaintiffs demand the determination of violations of the rights guaranteed by the Convention due to the inaction and ineffective response of the government. In particular, the violation of Articles 3 (Prohibition of Torture, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment), Articles 11 (Freedom of Assembly), and 13 (Right to Effective Means of Legal Protection), as well as Article 14 (Prohibition of Discrimination).
GDI, which protects the rights of Tbilisi Pride and LGBTQI+ activists in the European Court, notes that the court has communicated the case with respect to all articles. This means that before October 13, 2022, the Government of Georgia is obliged to answer the questions raised by the court regarding all the issues raised in the complaint. Among them, the court wonders whether the statements of members of the government encouraged the violence that erupted on July 5, 2021, and to what extent the state fulfilled its obligations for the prevention and effective investigation. In addition, the Court satisfied the GDI's motion and instructed the Government to present a July 5 security plan and internal materials related to the planning of security measures implemented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs ahead of the controversial events (July 1 and 5, 2021).
One year after the incident, the hearing of cases related to July 5 in the Tbilisi City Court is completed, but none of the organizers of the violence have been prosecuted, and those who have been charged have been sentenced to minimal sanctions.
On July 4, Tbilisi City Court sentenced 3 people for attacking the Pride office as a preventive measure. The Prosecutor's Office intends to appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals.
The ECHR has received another case related to July 5, which belongs to Transparency International Georgia. In this case, the plaintiff is a ‘shame’ activist.
