One of the leaders of the For Georgia party, Ana Buchukuri, accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of misleading the public by using a recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights to justify its actions against critics.
Speaking to journalists, Buchukuri said Georgian Dream was “once again manipulating” the Strasbourg court’s decision.
“The case concerns Kunstelj v. Slovenia. The applicant had persistently targeted two private individuals—journalists—by repeatedly spreading false and defamatory statements about them. The information he systematically published concerned the journalists’ private lives, including their sexual conduct. Therefore, this is merely a weak attempt by Georgian Dream to justify something through lies,” Buchukuri said.
She argued that the ruling party has a history of using Strasbourg court decisions selectively.
“We are used to Georgian Dream using even Strasbourg to persecute people. I would remind you that they also cite the Grand Chamber judgment against Giorgi Gakharia, even though that judgment actually states the opposite—that Gakharia did not issue the order to use rubber bullets,” Buchukuri added.
The comments came after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that imposing a prison sentence for publishing insulting statements on a personal blog does not, in itself, violate the right to freedom of expression.
As reported by the Georgian Public Broadcaster, the case involved a complaint by a Slovenian citizen who argued that the six-month prison sentence imposed on him over statements published on his personal blog violated his right to freedom of expression. The Strasbourg court rejected that claim.
