15:00, 3 May 2012

In Georgia, rights activists hold action on World Press Freedom Day

Georgian human rights organizations have held a staged action – in Tbilisi, inRustaveli Avenue– under the motto "I am a reporter, not a spy!" dated to the World Press Freedom Day.

The action was organized by the members of the Tbilisi Human Rights House – Article 42 of the Constitution and the Centre for Human Rights. The action, which was about 50 people strong, was attended by such organizations like the "Public Defender", Research Centre for Election Political Technologies, "Youth for Justice" and "Healthy World".

The event was staged: newspapers were placed into the cage; and Aleko Okitishvili, an activist of the Human Rights Centre, was handcuffed to the cage, thus embodying solidarity with Georgian mass media, the "Georgia Online" reports.

The participants have protested against the plight of the Georgian press and called on the authorities to investigate all the facts of pressure or harassment of journalists, the GHNreports.