Ombudsman Presents Evaluation of March 7-9 Protests
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Ombudsman Levan Ioseliani held a briefing, where he stated that the Public Defender of Georgia and his representatives were continuously monitoring the rallies held on March 7-9, protesting the draft laws initiated by People's Power at the Parliament of Georgia
The Public Defender and the employees of the office visited various divisions, departments, and temporary detention centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to visit the persons arrested during the protests.
According to the Ombudsman's assessment, unjustified cases of use of force in a similar situation always contribute to the artificial escalation of the situation, which law enforcement officers should avoid. However, the use of said force continued in a completely illegitimate manner against the peaceful participants of the assembly standing in front of the Parliament of Georgia.
"We emphasize that the freedom of peaceful assembly is protected by the Constitution of Georgia. On the basis of international standards, continuous monitoring and information and video recordings disseminated through the media for this stage, the Public Defender of Georgia presents his evaluations to the public:
On the evening of March 7, the situation on the ground became tense after some of the participants of the meeting tried to approach one of the entrances of the parliament, the way to which was blocked by law enforcement officers. This was followed by the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the protest became violent, there was an attempt to block one of the entrances to the Parliament, and there were incidents of violence against the employees of the Ministry. Soon, a small part of the citizens moved to the second entrance of the Parliament. Cases of conflict were recorded at both locations."
According to the Public Defender's assessment, at the time of the announcement of the warning by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in the evening hours of March 7, 2023, the protest was peaceful and there was no reason to stop it and use force against it. As for the cases of violence on the part of the participants of the rally, if there are any, individual, necessary and proportionate measures should have been taken against them. Contrary to this, the law enforcers started using special means against the participants of the assembly, including the peaceful demonstrators, which contradicts the standard of necessary and proportionate interference with the right," the statement reads.
Levan Ioseliani said that the public defender and his representatives went to various divisions, departments and temporary detention centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and visited 96 arrested persons.
According to the Ombudsman, the detainees pointed to the harsh forms of detention and in some cases, they had injuries. In the case of several detainees, with their own wish and consent, the Office of the Public Defender immediately applied to the Special Investigation Service in order to start an investigation.
The Public Defender emphasized the case of 'Girchi - More Freedom' party leader Zurab Japaridze and said that his case is 'particularly noteworthy' as, according to Ioseliani, several representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs physically assaulted Japaridze, beat him with hands, feet and batons. As a result, he has multiple injuries in the head and neck area, as well as in the wrist area.
"In addition, during these days, information was constantly spread and many people contacted the Office of the Public Defender that they could not find family members or lawyers of the arrested persons, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not provide information about the places of their placement. This violates the detainees' right to defense, as they were not given the opportunity to meet with lawyers on time and develop a defense strategy," the statement reads.
According to the public defender, the office of the ombudsman will continue to study the cases of persons arrested at the rallies, as well as in the future it will carry out monitoring of the investigation started on the fact of improper treatment of persons detained in the special investigative service.
The Public Defender called on investigative agencies to conduct an effective investigation into the facts of the use of disproportionate force, as well as the injury of media representatives.
