The International Day of Human Rights Defenders was marked for the first time in Georgia. Ambassadors and civil society representatives attended the event held at the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. The focus was on the recent attacks on non-governmental organizations during the pre-election period. Human rights activists say that the pre-election period has shown that their work environment is deteriorating.

The representative of the Human Rights Center, Ucha Nanuashvili believes that human rights defenders have difficulties working in Georgia and they are under pressure.
"Today I see that in Georgia, human rights defenders have problems in working, they are somehow victims of pressure and discretion," Ucha Nanuashvili said.
First Deputy Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia, Tamar Chugoshvili, member of the faction "Georgian Dream" says that what was happening before the elections it was not a pressure or hindering activity.
The Public Defender also draws attention to the fact of the election period. Nino Lomjaria says that the attitude of the government, which was revealed to the human rights law, can be quite negatively evaluated.
The Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia, Carl Hartzell spoke about the presidential elections held in Georgia.
"As for the elections, I have made many comments on this topic. I think it"s clear that after the elections it is important that the investigation is still conducted, but it is even more important from the future perspective that we should work with all parties in order to remedy those shortcomings that are recognized by the OSCE and other observers, "said Carl Hartzell.