edna mamidaSection 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and press, and citizens generally were free to exercise these rights, although there were allegations the government at times did not adequately protect them. Journalists, NGOs, and the international community raised concerns about the environment for media pluralism following developments affecting the independence of the country’s leading television broadcasters, including its leading station, Rustavi 2. Parliament’s failure to select all eight members of the reconfigured board of the Georgian Public Broadcaster for a third consecutive year amplified concerns about the politicization of the selection process and its negative impact on the ability of state-funded television and radio outlets to fulfill their programming responsibilities.
Freedom of Speech and Expression: While individuals were usually free to criticize the government without reprisal, democracy NGOs expressed concern that government and former government officials’ public criticism of civil society and the media, including calls for investigations of individual NGO leaders, led to self-censorship by journalists and civil society actors.
Press and Media Freedoms: Independent media were very active and expressed a wide variety of views. At the same time, media remained politically polarized and provided the public only limited access to objective, neutral news.
Television was the most influential medium and the primary source of information on current events for approximately 87 percent of the population, according to a 2015 survey carried out by Caucasus Research Resource Centers Georgia. Major television stations expressed a political bias, albeit to a lesser degree than in previous years. Government officials periodically criticized certain media outlets, in most cases Rustavi 2, alleging a pro-opposition bias.
Following the 2011 amendments to the Law on Broadcasting, which obligate media outlets to disclose information about their owners, media ownership became fairly transparent. Transparency of media ownership allowed consumers to judge the objectivity of news, but media experts acknowledged transparency was not absolute. In 2014 a Transparency International report concluded that significant personnel changes at several major media companies affected the content of broadcasting. In a number of instances, owners were suspected of interference in the editorial policies of the broadcasters, undermining media freedom.
Some media outlets, watchdog groups, and NGOs expressed continued concern over a restrictive environment for media pluralism and political meddling in the media, to which government critics were particularly vulnerable. In particular, concerns persisted over government interference with the country’s most widely viewed television station, Rustavi 2, as well as over the independence of the judiciary in a case involving the station’s ownership. In that case Rustavi 2 alleged the government was involved in a June decision by the Tbilisi City Court of Appeals that upheld the Tbilisi City Court’s November 2015 decision to grant ownership of the company to former owner Kibar Khalvashi. Although the government maintained the case was a legal dispute between private parties, the appellate court’s actions were widely seen as an attempt to change the editorial policy of Rustavi 2, which often espoused views critical of the government.
In July attorneys for Rustavi 2 appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. Several NGOs, including Transparency International and GYLA, as well as members of the opposition, called on the Supreme Court to accept the case, which it did in September. In November the Supreme Court passed the case to its Grand Chamber, and, as of year’s end, the Grand Chamber had not started hearing the case. There were also claims concerning the constitutionality of the statutes cited in the Rustavi 2 ruling by the Tbilisi City Court pending before the Constitutional Court (see section 1.e.).
Violence and Harassment: Crimes against media professionals, citizen reporters, and media outlets were prosecuted vigorously, but such crimes were rare. There was one report of police physically and verbally assaulting a journalist. In August Davit Mchedlidze, editor in chief of the online media outlet media.ge, reportedly was attacked by police in the city of Rustavi. An investigation was underway.
Nongovernmental Impact: Media observers, NGO representatives, and opposition politicians alleged that a former prime minister continued to exert a powerful influence over the government and judiciary, including in the lower and appellate court decision against owners of the Rustavi 2 television station.
While there was a greater diversity of media in Abkhazia, media in the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia remained restricted by de facto authorities and Russian occupying forces.
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https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/human...=265422#wrapper
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