Georgia's former Public Defender, Ucha Nanuashvili, has been summoned to the country's State Security Service (SSS). One of the country's most senior human rights defenders, he now heads the NGO Democracy Research Institute (DRI).
Nanuashvili himself told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Georgian Service that the case concerns an investigation and that he was summoned "as a witness in connection with communications with a Moscow Mechanism expert." He stated that he refused to appear before the SSS and informed investigators of his readiness to testify in court before a magistrate judge. However, he was not informed of the article under which the investigation was being conducted, when it was launched, or whether there were other defendants in the case.
Nanuashvili added that the SSS told him that the summons was prompted by his mention on TV Pirveli. The statement in question was made by David Katsarava, head of the Anti-Occupation Movement, on March 15, 2026: "I once had a conversation with Ucha Nanuashvili, who said I would be interviewed under the Moscow Mechanism, but no one has contacted me since."
Commenting on the situation, Nanuashvili described the summons as pressure on human rights defenders.
"This is persecution of human rights defenders for their work protecting the rights of people who have been victims of inhumane treatment and torture," the former ombudsman emphasized.
He also noted that he had provided information on the human rights situation in Georgia over the past two years to the author of the OSCE report, Patricia Grzebyk, based on publicly available reports from human rights organizations.
"It turns out that providing such information to international organizations is considered unacceptable and a crime," he said, perplexed.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze previously called Nanuashvili an "agent."
A human rights report on Georgia, prepared within the framework of the OSCE's so-called "Moscow Mechanism" at the initiative of 23 countries, contains harsh criticism of the Georgian authorities. The document calls on the international community to take responsive measures and on the Georgian authorities to repeal several previously adopted laws, which human rights activists consider repressive, and to "immediately and unconditionally release persons detained on political grounds." Furthermore, the report mentions the possibility of invoking the Rome Statute, including potentially referring the situation in Georgia to the International Criminal Court. Recommendations also include filing an interstate complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.
