Georgian Public Defender, CoE Sec Gen discuss human rights protection in country

The situation of human rights protection in Georgia was discussed on Thursday in a meeting between the Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani and Marija Pejčinović Burić, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

At the meeting, held as part of Ioseliani’s official visit to Strasbourg, he also reviewed the challenges of freedom of the mass media, freedom of assembly and expression, enjoyment of the right to social security and equality, the Public Defender’s Office said.

The officials touched on the working environment created for human rights defenders and human rights organisations, as well as the Office's ongoing pre-election efforts ahead of Georgia's parliamentary elections set on October 26.

The office noted Burić had expressed interest in the possibility of the future involvement of the Public Defender in the process of enforcing the newly adopted law on transparency of foreign influence and heard evaluations related to the controversial legislative piece.

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili earlier this month formally signed the domestic law on transparency of foreign influence, which requires registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.