Strasburg Court Suspends Georgia’s Supreme Court’s Verdict over Rustavi 2 TV

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) temporarily suspended enforcement of the verdict over Rustavi 2 TV reached on March 2 by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Rustavi 2 appealed to the ECHR and requested an interim measure to suspend the Supreme Court’s decision on March 3.

The broadcaster received a letter from the ECHR later the same day, suspending the verdict until March 8.

"On March 3, 2017, the court (the duty judge) decided … to indicate to the Government of Georgia, under Rule 39, that the enforcement of the Supreme Court’s decision of 2 March 2017 should be suspended and that the authorities should abstain from interfering with the applicant company’s editorial policy in any manner,” the ECHR letter said, adding that this interim measure is granted temporarily, until March 8, 2017.

“For the first time in its history, the ECHR suspended the enforcement of the Supreme Court decision," said Director General of Rustavi 2, Nika Gvaramia, at a special press-conference. "Such a measure has never been used by the Strasburg Court except for cases concerning torture or extradition of a person, or when a person’s life is in danger”.

The Director General believes that the Rustavi 2 case and the “shameful judicial authorities of Georgia, laid the foundations for the new practice of the European Court”.

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Georgia, which is tasked to solve the most complex cases, made the final decision on the high-profile Rustavi 2 TV dispute and granted the assets of the broadcaster to its former owner, Kibar Khalvashi.

Khalvashi was a co-owner of Rustavi 2 from 2004 to 2006. He filed a lawsuit in August 2015 to reclaim his shares, saying he was illegally deprived of his company under the previous United National Movement (UNM) government.

The case was handed to the Grand Chamber on November 21, 2016. On March 2, 2017, the Chamber, which consists of nine judges, including the Chair of the Supreme Court, ruled that 60 percent of Rustavi 2 TV shares were to be given to Khalvashi and the remaining 40 percent to Panorama LTD, which is a company owned by him.

The Chamber made the decision on the background of protest rallies, organized by Rustavi 2 and its supporter opposition parties, who demanded “a fair decision” from the court.

Georgia's Minister of Justice, Thea Tsulukiani, commented on the decision of the ECHR, saying that correspondence from Strasburg shows that Rustavi 2, as a company, had applied to the European Court and named the government of Georgia as a respondent party.

The Minister said that Rustavi 2 requested the following:

1. To prevent the Government of Georgia from executing the March 2 decision until the European Court considers the case on its merits and delivers the final decision;

2. To prevent the Government of Georgia from shutting down the TV station;

3. To prohibit the government from changing the management or the board of the company.

“The judge made the decision to ban the government from taking any measure that would cause changes in the editorial policy until March 8 and not until the end of the review of the case, as was demanded,” said Tsulukiani, adding that Georgia will follow the case according to procedures.

The ECHR is a supra-national or international court established by the European Convention on Human Rights. It serves to hear applications alleging that a contracting state has breached one or more of the human rights provisions concerning civil and political rights set out in the Convention and its protocols.

Thea Morrison