Former Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili said on March 17 that Georgia’s State Security Service (SSSG) has summoned him for questioning over his “communication” with an expert involved in the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, shortly after the release of a critical report highlighting “marked democratic backsliding” in the country.
The development comes amid sharp criticism from ruling party officials. Representatives of Georgian Dream, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, have rejected the report’s findings as “pre-written,” accusing its author of political bias and alleging a concealed conflict of interest.
Nanuashvili, who heads the Democracy Research Center, wrote on Facebook that an SSSG investigator contacted him late on March 16 regarding his interaction with the OSCE expert. He added that his name had been mentioned on television by activist Davit Katsarava.
“Is communication with an OSCE expert now forbidden for human rights defenders?” Nanuashvili said, suggesting that the Moscow Mechanism appears to be causing concern among the authorities.
A day earlier, on March 16, pro-government channel POSTV aired a short clip from a TV Pirveli interview with Katsarava, in which he claimed that Nanuashvili had told him he expected to be interviewed about the Moscow Mechanism, though he was not subsequently contacted.
The summons follows the March 12 publication of a report under the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, a human dimension tool invoked by 24 participating states. Authored by rapporteur Patrycja Grzebyk, the report points to democratic backsliding in Georgia since spring 2024 and calls for the release of individuals detained on political grounds, as well as the repeal of several restrictive laws.
