11:07, 11 April 2020

AI demands to stop persecuting journalists in South Ossetia

South-Ossetian authorities should stop the criminal cases initiated against the journalists, Tamara Mearakishvili and Irina Kelekhsaeva, who criticize the authorities, the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July 2019, the court found Mearakishvili not guilty of slander, document forgery and illegal acquisition of South-Ossetian citizenship. Last October, the court acquitted Mearakishvili. Irina Kelekhsaeva, a journalist of the "Echo of the Caucasus", was charged with defamation after publishing an article stating that Zalina Lalieva, the South-Ossetian Minister of Justice, was present at beating of inmates in colony.

Ms Mearakishvili believes that South-Ossetian authorities have decided to demonstratively punish her for her civil activism.

The criminal prosecution of Mearakishvili and Kelekhsaeva should be stopped, the AI's website claims.

The freedom of speech "is suppressed in South Ossetia; and the atmosphere of fear reigns in mass media," the AI has stated, adding that there is no grounds for Mearakishvili's criminal prosecution; is only goal is to "silence her."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 10, 2020 at 11:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.