Georgian Parliament official: lies of “NGO activists” exposed

Davit Matikashvili, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party and Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules, said on Saturday that claims spread by NGO activists regarding the 2024 parliamentary elections had been discredited, noting that a significant part of the lawsuit filed by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) had already been rejected.

Commenting on the lawsuit submitted by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and other individuals to the European Court of Human Rights, Matikashvili said the case demonstrated that accusations against the Georgian state were misleading and politically motivated.

“The lies of the NGO activists have been exposed. What GYLA dared to do and attempted to mislead the public turned out to be a lie with very short legs. The [European Court of Human Rights] court refused to consider the lawsuit, and about the part of the claim that will be examined, the court has more questions for the claimant than for the respondent”, he said.

The official further stated that similar campaigns had been conducted in the past, notably in 2020, and claimed that the current case followed the same pattern he described as an orchestrated anti-Georgian campaign, both domestically and internationally.

“This lie spread by non-governmental organisations, which we have repeatedly heard even from outside Georgia, regarding election fraud and violations of ballot secrecy, will definitely be put to rest. Once and for all, it will become clear to the public that this orchestrated anti-Georgian campaign, both inside and outside the country - similar to what ISFED did in 2020 and what GYLA is doing today - will end with Georgia’s victory”, Matikashvili concluded.

Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, said on Friday that the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) was concealing the fact that it had already been partially defeated in its case at the European Court of Human Rights regarding the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected the applicants’ request to suspend the 2024 parliamentary election results.

The substantive review of the case will begin in the standard form, without acceleration. One of the applicants in the ECHR is the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association.