Within the investigation initiated in connection with the BBC’s investigative film, the State Security Service summoned, as witnesses, the Director and an employee of the Human Rights Protection Program of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA). Our employees will be questioned in the presence of a magistrate judge.

We would like to emphasize that, in the interview given to the BBC, GYLA’s representatives voiced the organization’s official position, which is based on the monitoring of instances of rights violations.

In the film, GYLA discussed instances of torture of protesters and other systemic human rights violations during the mass protests of 2024, regarding which GYLA, together with partner organizations, published a detailed report describing dozens of cases involving victims. The report is publicly available, and GYLA speaks openly on these matters both in local and international media.

The summoning of GYLA’s employees as witnesses within the investigation launched by the State Security Service raises a strong suspicion that the aim is not to establish the truth, but rather to exert pressure on those individuals and organizations who speak about systemic rights violations.

The terminology used by the State Security Service in this case — the qualification of “damage to state interests” — is particularly problematic in circumstances where the State fails to conduct an effective and independent investigation into possible acts of violence and rights violations committed by law-enforcement agencies.

Instead of providing a clear and satisfactory answer as to what chemical agents were used in dispersing the protests, the State attempts to shift responsibility onto those individuals and organizations who protect human rights.

We wish to state explicitly that such attempts at pressure will not alter our activities or objectives. GYLA’s employees will provide the investigation with information concerning the violations identified through monitoring. We continue to identify and document systemic human rights violations and to inform the public.