Georgian Parliament Speaker: third complaint to BBC planned, European Court of Human Rights not ruled out

Georgian Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said the ruling Georgian Dream party is entering a third stage of its complaint against the BBC, with the case to be reviewed at a higher level within the broadcaster. The complaint concerns a report alleging that Georgian authorities used a chemical agent Camite against demonstrators.

In his remarks, Papuashvili Papuashvili explained the appeals procedure and argued that the process within the BBC is largely formal.

According to him, before turning to court, the complainant must first submit the case to the broadcaster itself. He said the initial review was conducted by the same journalists who produced the report, who rejected the complaint. The next stage, he added, involved the editorial team that commissioned and aired the story, which also dismissed the appeal.

“It turned out that the UK legal system is a nightmare - I don’t know how they lecture us about justice or legal procedures. Before going to court, we were obliged to first appeal to the BBC itself. The procedure works like this: first, the very journalists who spread this defamation reviewed our complaint and said, ‘No, we are right’. This is absurd - the journalists who made up the falsehood reviewed our case and rejected it. Then we resubmitted the complaint. It turned out that the next instance was the editorial team that commissioned, accepted, and aired the report. That editorial team reviewed it and again said, ‘No, we were right’”, he said.

The speaker explained that the case was currently in its third stage of internal BBC review, where further complaints were examined within the organisation itself.

“Now we are at the third stage, where we will file another complaint. Again, we must appeal to the BBC - the review is at a higher level, but still within the BBC itself. We view this process largely as a formality; we will go through all instances, and if necessary, we will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights”, Papuashvili noted.

He also criticised what he described as inadequate legislation in the United Kingdom, claiming individuals have limited recourse against media organizations unless they have substantial resources and legal support.

“The legislation in the UK is absolutely inadequate. If the media targets you, it will crush you like an ant. That is what UK legislation allows - you cannot do anything unless you are wealthy, influential, or have strong legal support behind you”, Papuashvili concluded.

The complaint, filed by the ruling party Georgian Dream, demands that the BBC remove the material from relevant platforms and issue an apology.

The case concerns a BBC-produced documentary that accused the Georgian authorities of using a World War I-era banned chemical weapon, Camite, against demonstrators.

Georgia’s State Security Service has stated that the toxic substance Camite was not used by the Interior Ministry to disperse protests and that Georgia has never acquired such a substance.