The Public Defender, the case of June 20, 2019, responds to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. As noted in the office of the Public Defender, the Public Defender believes that it is necessary to implement the decision of the European Court of Human Rights and for the investigative body to determine the complete picture of the events during the disbandment of the rally and assess the issue of responsibility of the relevant persons.
"The European Court of Human Rights found a violation of the procedural aspect of Article 3 of the Convention on June 20-21, 2019, due to the ineffective investigation of the use of rubber bullets and physical violence against protesters during the dispersal of the gathering.
It is significant that the European Court refers to the findings and recommendations of the special and parliamentary reports of the Public Defender in its decision.
According to the court, despite the fact that the Public Defender's office still in July 2019 and March 2020 emphasized the need for investigative bodies to conduct a systematic analysis of events, such an analysis has not been done so far; No official report has been prepared either, describing the detailed chronology of events, the stages of planning and implementation of the action break-up - to prevent similar incidents in the future. Despite the clear recommendations of the Public Defender, the issue of the responsibility of the leaders was not properly discussed and evaluated.
The European Court also focused on the state's obligation to ensure the possibility of identifying police officers suspected of misconduct during the planning and implementation of large-scale police measures. (We are talking about the visible identification marks of masked policemen).
As for the essential aspect of Article 3 of the Convention, at this stage the European Court refrained from making a decision, for the reason that the investigation is still ongoing.
The court points out that in order to implement the decision, first of all, the authorities of Georgia should draw appropriate conclusions regarding the issues that remain open within the framework of the current investigation.
The Public Defender believes that it is necessary to implement the decision of the European Court of Human Rights and for the investigative body to establish a complete picture of the events during the disbandment of the rally and to assess the issue of responsibility of the relevant persons", the Public Defender's Office notes.
