On May 31, 2024, another organized attempt to suppress freedom of speech occurred in Georgia. Namely, in the early morning of May 31, insulting and threatening inscriptions were made at the entrances to the workplaces and/or residences of civil society organizations, opposition political parties, and media representatives.
This incident is part of a systematic, criminal, and violent campaign supported by the ruling party following the initiation of the Russian-style foreign agents law. The distinctive elements of this campaign include acts of violence, intimidation, and insult by organized groups operating physically and/or online; coverage of these acts with a pre-agreed narrative by the pro-government media outlets, and support of this narrative by representatives of the ruling party, along with the announcement and/or implementation of various legal and repressive measures.
The analysis of the incidents of May 31 indicates that the ruling party has two goals with this organized vandalism and systematic intimidation: to suppress freedom of speech and to create a false image of the damaging acts committed by them against Georgia, including the attempt to isolate Georgia internationally.
In the early morning, around 02:00, six masked individuals appeared at the entrance of the office of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI). Security camera footage near the office shows that these individuals acted in an organized manner. Within a few minutes, they painted in red several inscriptions on the entrance door and the walls of the building where the office of IDFI is located.
The content of the inscriptions/texts mirrors the offensive narrative that the ruling party crafts against non-governmental organizations, particularly accusing the non-governmental sector of acting with anti-state interests.
It should be noted that this is not the first incident of vandalism. Namely, on May 9, in the early morning, insulting posters and stencils were placed on the entrance door and organizational sign of IDFI. Most posters featured the photo of the Executive Director of IDFI, the organization’s logo, and various insulting texts. Moreover, starting from May 7, the Executive Director of the organization has been receiving insulting and intimidating calls for several days straight. These calls were also made to his wife and minor children. Notably, these calls resumed on May 31.
politically motivated vandalism against free speech in #Tbilisi. Facts indicate clear coordination between enforcers, propaganda mediums and ruling party. https://t.co/I1KiI1fC9w >> read our assessment. #NoToRussianLAW pic.twitter.com/aIlUEuZyUg
— IDFI (@IDFIGeorgia) June 7, 2024
See the video recording of the May 31 act of vandalism and its coverage
On the morning of May 31, around 9:20, a journalist and a cameraman from the TV outlet Rustavi 2 appeared near the IDFI office. It should be noted that at the time of their arrival, the information about the vandalism had not yet been publicly disseminated. Notably, neither the cameraman nor the journalist had the identification mark of the channel on their equipment which is usually placed on a camera, however, by 10:00, Rustavi 2's news program covered the vandalism as the first news, including the inscriptions left at the IDFI’s office. Around 11:30, another cameraman and journalist recorded the area surrounding the IDFI office. They also lacked identification marks but identified themselves as journalists from the TV Imedi, during the verbal communication.
At around 11:00, POSTV published the footage of the vandalism at the IDFI’s office on its Facebook page. This footage, which projects the process of the vandalism, appears to have been taken by the members of the criminal group. To be more specific, the security camera recordings show one of the individuals filming the incident with a mobile phone, and the angle, time, and frames match those of the footage published by POSTV.
Pro-government propaganda media attempted to portray these incidents of vandalism as of citizens’ protest.
At around 17:00 the Georgian Dream MP (member of the Parliament of Georgia) and a member of the political council of the ruling party, Dimitri Samkharadze posted a video recording of the facts of vandalism from May 31 and the text which is noteworthy for several reasons: 1. Samkharadze admitted that the representatives of the ruling party and/or other affiliated people were behind the organization of the May 31 vandalism; 2. Georgian Dream MP voiced several threats, including those against non-governmental organizations; 3. A list of target non-governmental organizations and opposition parties was attached to the text.
In addition to covering the vandalism with a propaganda narrative, pro-government media actively disseminated a text published on Facebook by parliamentary majority member Guram Macharashvili. In this post, among other things, Macharashvili announced further repressive mechanisms. Specifically, he threatened to prosecute anyone protesting the adoption of the Russian-style foreign agents law with the “espionage article” of the Criminal Code. He also indicated that these trials "should become a kind of Nuremberg trial."
The May 31 incident is one of the manifestations of the ruling party's hate campaign carried out in support of the Russian-style foreign agents law. In parallel with the reintroduction of the Russian-style foreign agents law, several cases of verbal and physical attacks, insults and attempts to intimidate opponents of the Russian-style foreign agents law have been revealed, especially since the beginning of May. In particular, on 5 May, the teacher who opposes the Russian-style foreign agents law and his son were attacked; on 7 May, an unknown assailant attacked the Executive Director of IDFI and the camera crew of TV Formula near the Embassy of Sweden; and since 7 May, insulting and threatening phone calls have been made to hundreds of people, including family members. In the following days, representatives of several opposition parties, activists, and media were attacked and/or ambushed. At the same time, insulting and offensive posters and stencils were placed at the entrance to workplaces and/or residences of civil society organizations, media outlets, opposition political parties, as well as journalists and other citizens. In addition, the opponents of the Russian-style foreign agents law were detained during the rallies without reason and with violent methods, as well as actively called for interrogation by the police in the framework of the criminal investigation, cases of administrative offenses opened, and fines imposed.
Despite these actions, public protest and resistance to the Russian-style foreign agents law has not stopped. The Georgian people continue to fight for the country's European future.
The developments that occurred on May 31 are not an isolated case. Since the re-initiation of the Russian-style foreign agents law, numerous organized incidents of attacks, both verbal and physical, on individuals with critical opinions have emerged.
Taking into account the form/content of the repressive mechanisms, the motive, the addressees, and the time of their implementation, it is reasonable to assume that opponents of the Russian-style foreign agents law are being persecuted for their speech, opinions, and/or professional activities that is a crime under Article 156 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.
To this crime, the Criminal Code provides for several aggravating circumstances, including when the same act is committed with violence, threats of violence, or abuse of the official position. The Special Investigation Service has the authority and duty to investigate this crime.
On 7 May, the Public Defender called on the law enforcement authorities to respond promptly and effectively to the attacks that took place on 5 and 7 May. The Public Defender also stressed the importance for the investigating authorities to determine the motive for the violence and its possible connection with the professional activities and critical opinions of the victims of the attacks.
Despite numerous calls, there is still no adequate, effective, and timely response to the incidents that have occurred as of May 31, 2024, which intensifies the sense of impunity among the organizers and perpetrators of persecution and creates fertile ground for the use of more intense forms of violence and persecution.
Numerous facts of assault, attempted intimidation, verbal or physical abuse, and illegal and violent detention are the direct result of the systematic, criminal, and violent campaign supported by the ruling political party against Georgian non-governmental organizations, their leaders, media outlets, journalists, representatives of the opposition party, and Georgian citizens participating in continuous protests against the Russian-style foreign agents law.
The statements made by the representatives of the ruling political party indicate that the repressive mechanisms will become even more intense and large-scale in the near future.
In these conditions, special importance is attached to the independent, effective, and timely response to incidents of violence, and violations of rights and freedoms by the bodies established to oversee the activities of state authorities.
Accordingly, we call on the agencies with an oversight mandate to act effectively and timely within the framework of the oversight powers granted by the legislation and not to contribute by their inaction to the further use of repressive methods.
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