Ombudswoman: '59 opposition candidates were intimidated during pre-election period to make them withdraw their candidacies'

“A total of 59 opposition candidates were intimidated during the pre-election period to make them withdraw their candidacies”, reads the report of the Public Defender of Georgia.

Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria stated that 52 out of the 59 opposition candidates were representatives of the For Georgia party, six were representatives of the United National Movement and one – of the Third Force-Strategy Builder.

Opposition parties noted that alleged threats against their candidates were mostly coming from the representatives of the State Security Service, election headquarters of the ruling team and criminal authorities… Candidates were threatened with physical abuse, destruction of property and obstruction of entrepreneurial activities, actions against the safety of their family members and relatives”, Lomjaria stated.

Some opposition candidates were promised to be employed or assisted in treatment of a family member if they withdrew their candidacies.

Lomjaria said that 69 people have been dismissed or harassed at work for politically motivated views. In a conversation with the Public Defender’s Office, most of the people explained the above by having friendly relations or being relatives of members of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s party.

Most of the cases of harassment and dismissal were reported in Samegrelo, Adjara and Shida Kartli regions.

Employees were dismissed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, municipal services, non-commercial legal entities and other public institutions.

Nino Lomjaria stated that there have also been reports of political pressure on kindergarten/public school staff and alleged illegal processing of personal data and bribery of voters.

During the pre-election period, the Public Defender became aware of four cases, when the employment contracts of acting public school directors were not renewed allegedly for political reasons.

The Public Defender calls on the Prosecutor’s Office and the Interior Ministry to timely examine all the alleged incidents of pressure, threats, persecution and bribery.

Read the full statement of the Public Defender here.