On 12 June 2023, at the initiative of the Council of Europe, a roundtable meeting was organised on the topics of safety and protection of journalists. Key findings of the study “Review of the legal and policy framework of Georgia with regard to the protection and safety of journalists” were discussed at the meeting. The study was prepared by the Council of Europe, at the request of the Public Defender’s office of Georgia.
This document analyses the compliance of the legal and policy framework of Georgia with the Council of Europe standards set in the Recommendation CM/Rec (2016)4 of the Committee of Ministers and focuses on the topics, such as investigation and prosecution of violence against journalists, safety at demonstrations, capacities of law enforcement agencies, as well as of media organisations.
“Media and journalists, as well as civil society organisations, are often referred to as “public watchdogs” and are the cornerstone of a democratic society. Nevertheless, this function makes them vulnerable to a whole range of risks. We see increasing number of such risks across Europe and beyond. Violence and threats against journalists have been on the rise in recent years - this is disheartening to acknowledge, because intimidation and fear are the favourite tools of the enemies of free speech. Therefore, special protection is needed to ensure that they effectively execute their role as public watchdogs, i.e., they meaningfully contribute to the debates on matters of public interest.” - Stefan Sirbu, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, said in his opening speech.
The study was presented by the Council of Europe expert Peter Noorlander, who considers the media to be a key component of democracy: “Media is a key component in democracy. Attacks on the media is not just attacks on the media. It is an attack on the democracy, not on an individual. It has consequences on the quality of democracy and society we want to achieve.”
In the opening panel of the event, Sheraz Gasri, Ambassador of the Republic of France to Georgia and Riina Kaljurand, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to Georgia and Armenia also spoke about the importance of media protection.
At the meeting, representatives of the governmental institutions (mainly the law enforcement agencies), Civil Society Organisations operating in the field of Media and journalists from various media outlets, together with the Council of Europe expert, discussed the findings of the study and shared their perspectives vis-à-vis its conclusions and recommendations.
The event was organised under the Council of Europe co-operation project “Strengthening Media Freedom, Internet Governance and Personal Data Protection in Georgia”. The co-operation programmes and technical assistance activities on freedom of expression and media are implemented by the Information Society Department, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) of the Council of Europe.
