On February 1, Shalva Papuashvili, leader of the Georgian Dream party, accused the online publication Publika of announcing the commission of a criminal offense.

Papuashvili made this statement in response to a Facebook post published by Publika about a protest planned for February 2 near Tbilisi Mall. The protest is being held with demands for the immediate release of political prisoners and new elections. 

The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics responded to the ruling party leader’s accusation against the media: “The repressive policy of Georgian Dream towards independent media reached a new level on February 1 when Shalva Papuashvili manipulatively linked the media’s professional duty to the hastily adopted amendment restricting the right to assembly (Government Decree #361, passed on January 31) and started talking about criminal liability,”the statement reads. 

The Media Advocacy Coalition also expressed support for Publika: “Georgian Dream is particularly attacking independent outlets that uphold high professional standards in the Georgian media landscape. We stand with Publika!” the statement says.