On October 31, the pro-government outlet POSTV published a social media card that read, “Council of Europe rapporteurs Foringer (Germany) and Dixon (UK) criticize the Georgian Dream for filing a lawsuit in court. Reminder: under the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to appeal to a court is a fundamental right, and its restriction is unacceptable.”
The social media card published by POSTV is misleading, as it suggests that the criticism was due to the act of filing a lawsuit. In reality, Foringer and Dixon criticized the decision of members of the Georgian Parliament to appeal to the Constitutional Court with a request to ban three major opposition parties in the country. Thus, the criticism was not directed at the right to go to court itself, but rather at the decision concerning opposition parties.
POSTV’s social media card includes a screenshot from the European Convention on Human Rights, referring to the fundamental right to access a court. The pro-government media outlet cites Article 6 of the Convention – “Right to a fair trial.” According to this article, every person has the right to have any criminal charge against them examined promptly, fairly, and publicly by an impartial tribunal.
The article emphasizes the right to an independent court. However, the POSTV post misleads readers, implying that Bernard Foringer and Stuart Dixon criticized the Georgian Dream for exercising this right.
In fact, Foringer and Dixon’s criticism was directed at the appeal to the Constitutional Court requesting the banning of opposition parties. This information is absent from POSTV’s social media card or its description.
In their October 30 statement, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe rapporteurs wrote:
“We firmly condemn the decision by members of the Georgian Parliament to appeal to the Constitutional Court to ban three key opposition forces in the country.
Democracy at all levels of government cannot exist without political pluralism and an effective opposition.
Democracy at all levels of government cannot exist without political pluralism and effective opposition. We are alarmed that the foundations of Georgian democracy are being progressively dismantled.We regret that the Georgian authorities have ignored repeated calls from the Congress and other Council of Europe bodies, including the Human Rights Commissioner and the Parliamentary Assembly, and urge them to reverse these actions.
The Congress remains committed to supporting Georgia, in any way possible, in fulfilling its obligations as a member state of the Council of Europe in safeguarding democracy, human rights and the rule of law at local level.”
On October 28, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili submitted a constitutional lawsuit on behalf of the Georgian Dream, People’s Power, and European Socialists, demanding that three parties be declared unconstitutional and banned: the United National Movement, Coalition for Change, and Strong Georgia – Lelo.
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