Democracy in Georgia has continued to decline, US-based democracy watchdog Freedom House said in its Nations in Transit 2023 report. Georgia's democracy score fell from 3.07 to 3.04, with the country still classified as a "hybrid regime".
Media independence saw the biggest drop, from 3.50 to 3.25, "due to a multi-year trend of worsening harassment and violence against journalists" as well as an "increasingly polarized and politicized media environment that has undermined editorial independence". The arrest and continued detention of Nika Gvaramia, managing director of Mtavari TV, is singled out as a key event in this context.
Freedom House also notes the inclusion of Lekso Lashkarava, a TV Pirveli cameraman who died days after the brutal assault of Kremlin-linked groups on journalists on July 5, 2021 into the list of killed journalists by UNESCO.
Concerns about censorship and biased editorial policy in public broadcasting, as well as media surveillance, were also included in the list of concerns.
While the assessment of the electoral process remained the same as in 2021, fundamental concerns such as the abuse of administration, resources and public funds in the electoral context remain unresolved. The report also referred to documents leaked by the former deputy head of the Georgian State Security Service, which revealed a deeply disturbing abuse of the service for the purposes of election manipulation and voter intimidation.
It also reported an increase in verbal attacks on civil society organizations and the opposition, including by Georgian government officials. The report also highlighted "disturbing cases of alleged politically motivated justice".
"The Council of Europe's assessment of the human rights situation in the country highlighted several critical areas, including widespread discrimination against the LGBT+ community and religious minorities," the report added.
In addition, Freedom House said "the GD's willingness to accept criticism, even from declared strategic partners, diminished over the course of 2022, as high-ranking and former representatives of the ruling party made indirect allegations of Western pressure to 'drag Georgia into the war'".
The report says that the GD's branding of the opposition as a 'war party' has only had a negative impact on democratic governance and public confidence in state institutions.
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