Strasbourg, 03.03.2017 – The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Georgia, Boriss Cilevics (Latvia, SOC) and Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE), took note of yesterday’s Supreme Court judgment in the ownership dispute over Rustavi 2 TV channel. Without wishing to comment on the judgment itself, the two co-rapporteurs expressed their concern about the possible consequences of this judgment on the pluralism of the media environment in Georgia.
“Media freedom and pluralism are cornerstones of a democratic society. Citizens should be able to familiarise themselves freely and unhindered with as wide as possible a range of views and positions that exist in their society. We therefore call upon all stakeholders and media organisations to ensure that Georgian citizens continue to have this unhindered access to as wide as possible a range of political views and opinions – opposition, ruling majority and other – in order to form their own well informed views and positions,” said the co-rapporteurs.
