Congress to Georgia: Stop Politically Motivated Incarcerations

A US government human rights watchdog is urging Georgia to end its politically motivated persecution of pro-European figures just a month after the government used fire hoses and batons against protesters demonstrating against a law on foreign agents.

A US government human rights watchdog is urging Georgia to end its politically motivated persecution of pro-European figures just a month after the government used fire hoses and batons against protesters demonstrating against a law on foreign agents.

The bipartisan Helsinki Commission, established during the détente in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, is urging Georgian President Salome Zurabichvili to use her pardon powers to release political prisoners who support European integration.

In a letter sent to Zurabichvili on Thursday, commission chairs Rep. Joe Wilson and Sen. Ben Cardin, along with senior members Rep. Steve Cohen and Sen. Roger Wicker, urged Georgia’s President Nika Gvaramia , the owner, to release an opposition television network in the country that was jailed in May 2022 on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement that US lawmakers believe was fabricated.

“As a vocal supporter of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration and the protection of its democracy, we believe your support in curbing what appear to be politically motivated persecutions would be a critically important step along that path,” the US lawmakers wrote to Zurabishvili, a former French diplomat , who comes from a family of Georgian refugees and entered politics in the country in the 2000s. She is at odds with much of the Georgian government, which has recently become pro-Moscow. Zurabishvili promised to veto a law by Georgia’s pro-Russian ruling party that would have required election observers, corruption monitors and independent media receiving a certain amount of foreign funds to be flagged as “foreign agents”. This bill was almost a clone of a Russian law that shut down dozens of independent media outlets and increased Kremlin censorship of opposition voices.

“During your presidency, you have been an outspoken and principled leader for Georgian democracy, Euro-Atlantic integration and human rights,” the letter continued. “To that end, we believe that breaking the cycle of political prosecutions in Georgia, such as in particular ensuring the release of Mr. Gvaramia, is not just an important humanitarian gesture and the righting of an injustice, but a crucial step in saving the lives of the Georgians deserved EU candidacy.”

Gvaramia isn’t the only prominent prisoner. Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a pro-Western figure who led the country during the 2008 war with Russia that led to two pro-Kremlin regions breaking away from Tbilisi rule, has been in prison when he is not in prison intensive care unit. Although Zurabichvili has ruled out using her powers of pardon for Saakashvili, she has not made the same caveat in the case of Gvaramia, who has close ties to the former president. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for Saakashvili’s release because he is reportedly in poor health.

The US plea is not the first. The European Parliament with an overwhelming majority passed Earlier this year, a resolution called on Georgia to release Saakashvili — and was vocal about the Georgian government’s sudden departure from Western and democratic values.

The US request comes amid mounting signs that Georgia’s road to integration with Europe is sloping, despite the specter of a pro-Russian government led by Georgia’s Dream Party, founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest man. According to a survey carried out by the National Democratic Institute and CRRC Georgia between July and August 2022, 75 percent of Georgian citizens support EU membership and 69 percent support NATO membership, which Tbilisi was first promised before the war with Russia in August 2008.

The EU offered candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova last year, but hesitated when it came to Georgia due to the deteriorating human rights situation there.