13/06/2025 Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Edite Estrela (Portugal, SOC) and Sabina Ćudić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, ALDE), have expressed deep concern about the continuing crackdown on political dissent in Georgia, including the adoption of repressive legislation and the abuse of legal mechanisms used against opposition members, journalists and civil society activists.
The co-rapporteurs deplored the summoning of journalists and political activists to court for allegedly “insulting” ruling party officials on social media, as well as the imposition of unwarranted and disproportionate legal measures, including detentions, against opposition members who refuse to appear before the parliamentary investigation commission looking into “the acts committed by the previous regime”, which has repeatedly stated that its objective is to ban the political opposition in the country.
“This ongoing crackdown is only exacerbating the social and political crisis in Georgia and moves the country further away from honouring its obligations as a member of the Council of Europe,” the two co-rapporteurs said. “We urge the authorities to stop this undemocratic crackdown on dissenting voices in Georgian society and to reverse the country's rapid democratic backsliding. We continue to stand ready to maintain an open and constructive dialogue with the authorities and all political forces to assist the country in meeting its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe,” they concluded.
Georgia is one of ten Council of Europe member states subject to the Assembly’s full monitoring procedure, which involves regular visits by a pair of rapporteurs, who conduct an ongoing dialogue with authorities, and occasional plenary debates to ensure that a state's progress and problems are fully assessed.