US State Department criticises Georgia over violence and media freedom in 2024 rights report

The US State Department has raised concerns over violence, intimidation and threats against journalists, protesters and other citizens in Georgia, as well as a lack of accountability for such incidents, in its 2024 human rights report.

The document said reports of physical attacks, harassment, coercion and threats persisted throughout the year. It highlights a 7 December incident in which more than 30 masked men dressed in black assaulted pro-European demonstrators before attacking TV Pirveli journalist Maka Chikhladze and cameraman Giorgi Shetsiruli, who were filming them. The attackers beat the pair and stole all of Shetsiruli’s belongings. Witnesses, including Chikhladze, said nearby patrol police officers failed to intervene.

The report also noted that journalists and activists received threatening phone calls and faced vandalism targeting their homes and offices, including offensive posters and damage to vehicles. Authorities investigated unauthorized access to citizens’ phone numbers linked to the incidents. The country’s media ombudsman documented 15 rights violations involving journalists covering protests outside parliament.

International media monitors, along with the media ombudsman and the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Safety of Journalists, reported at least 30 violations of media freedom during the 26 October elections, including equipment damage, verbal and physical attacks, and intimidation. By year’s end, the government had not investigated these cases.

Media organisations also voiced concern over a Tbilisi Appeals Court decision to reduce sentences for those convicted of violence against peaceful protesters in 2021, some of whom were later granted amnesty under legislation passed by the ruling party. The report said none of the organisers of those attacks has faced charges.