The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the right to a fair trial was violated in the treason case of Rauf Mirkadyrov, a former columnist for the Russian-language Azerbaijani newspaper *Zerkalo*. The journalist stated that the Strasbourg court’s decision helped restore his reputation, though he lamented having to wait twelve and a half years after his arrest for this outcome.
More than 10 NGOs of Georgia called on the authorities to respect the rights of citizens detained during the March 2 protest against the law on foreign agents before the Parliament. Tbilisi City Court released on bail seven of the 36 activists.
According to the available data, there are at least 15 people in detention. It is difficult for lawyers and family members to determine their exact location. Some of the detainees talk about injuries», - said in the statement. The authors also called for the prevention of the adoption of the law «On foreign influence», which will actually be analogous to the Russian initiative on foreign agents with persecution of the media, NGOs and individuals receiving support from abroad.
Earlier, 63 Georgian media outlets issued a joint statement on refusal to register as "agents of foreign influence". " This draft law is a response to hundreds of facts of violence, corruption, violations of the right to vote, which are made public by public organizations and independent media. It will be impossible to implement this law without causing enormous harm to hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens," they said.