{"id":50394,"date":"2026-03-28T02:02:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/50394\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T02:02:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:02:05","slug":"helsinki-commission-accuses-georgian-dream-of-using-courts-to-silence-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/50394\/","title":{"rendered":"Helsinki Commission accuses Georgian Dream of using courts to silence opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Helsinki Commission has accused Georgia\u2019s ruling party, \u201cGeorgian Dream,\u201d of weaponizing the judicial system to suppress political opponents, warning of an increasingly harsh crackdown on dissent.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

In a statement released on Friday, the Commission said that Georgian Dream is using the courts \u201cas a weapon to silence all those people who pose a challenge to their power,\u201d expressing concern over what it described as the growing politicization of the judiciary in the country.<\/p>\n

The statement specifically highlights the case of Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the opposition party \u201cDroa,\u201d who was sentenced to one year and six months in prison. She was found guilty of damaging property after writing \u201cRussian Dream\u201d on a pre-election banner belonging to Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze last September.<\/p>\n

Helsinki Commission says that Khoshtaria\u2019s case is part of a broader pattern, with opposition figures now facing the risk of significantly more severe charges. The statement notes that Khoshtaria and other opposition leaders could face prison sentences ranging from 7 to 15 years for alleged \u201ccrimes committed against the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Commission\u2019s remarks come during heightened political tensions in Georgia, where both domestic and international observers have increasingly raised concerns about democratic backsliding, the rule of law, and the treatment of opposition figures.<\/p>\n

The Georgian government has not yet issued an official response to the Helsinki Commission\u2019s latest statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US Helsinki Commission has accused Georgia\u2019s ruling party, \u201cGeorgian Dream,\u201d of weaponizing the judicial system to suppress…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[158,28070,113,8293],"class_list":{"0":"post-50394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-helsinki","8":"tag-finland","9":"tag-georgiam-dream","10":"tag-helsinki","11":"tag-helsinki-commission"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116304343484418763","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}