NGOs say statement of Prosecutor’s Office contains “indirect message” about imposing criminal liability upon their colleagues
A group of NGOs has responded to the November 20 statement of the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia on November 21, 2018 and expressed concern over it. According to the information released by non-governmential organizations on November 23, the statement of the Prosecutor's Office contains an indirect message about imposing criminal liability upon their colleagues.
The watchdogs believe that the statement of the Prosecutor's Office is a warning message to non-governmental organizations working in the field of human rights and is a continuation of the Georgian government’s recent "targeted policy".
The non-governmental organizations point out that since the "Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression" was adopted in 2004, there has not been any state agency, which cast doubt on the rights of human rights defenders, the source of their professional secret was protected by absolute privilege.
The statement says that the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia tries to cast doubt on the NGOs rights right of refusing to disclose source.
The statement is signed by : Georgian Democratic Initiative (GDI), Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDPI), Institute for Democracy and Safe Development (IDSD), Open Society Foundation (OSGF), Article 42 of the Constitution, Sapari, Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), Initiative for Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Groups (RIVG), Human Rights Center (HRC), Empathy Center, United Nations Association of Georgia UNAG, Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI), Georgian Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT).
The Georgian Prosecutor’s office said in a statement released on November 20 that an investigation had been launched into alleged printing of fake IDs. Prosecution says all persons linked to the case will be interrogated in the near future.
The statement comes after three NGOs – the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and Transparency International Georgia have voiced the allegations about alleged printing of fake IDs.
