The Media Advocacy Coalition responds to the statements made by the President and the Chairman of the Parliament on the amendments related to Law on Defamation.Coalition calls on Salome Zourabichvili and Irakli Kobakhidze to make clear statements.
According to the statement made by the Media Advocacy Coalition, the current law allows any person to have the right to appeal to the courts for violation of honor and dignity by requesting protection of the rights of the victims.
"At the beginning of 2019, high-ranking officials have made numerous statements about the legislative amendments related to the law on defamation.According to the President of Georgia, there is a need for legislation that provides more protection for human dignity and freedom of speech. The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia stated that it is necessary to start discussion not only of defamation, but for solving the problem of severe offense and swearing.
It is known to the public that the current law "Freedom of Speech and Expression" has been taking into consideration civil legal responsibility for the defamation in the private and public sphere for many years. Consequently, any person can still apply to the court and request the protection of the violated rights from the judicial system, due to the violation of honor and dignity.
We think the public should get clear explanations about the words of the President of Georgia and the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia.
The efforts of many years of our society have resulted in the fact that the current legislation sets a high standard of freedom of expression and it has always been considered a great achievement of Georgian democracy.We are deeply convinced that any legislative change that will worsen the standards of freedom of expression will threaten the country"s democratic development, "- the statement reads.