appointments to the judiciary, thereby the alleged illegal surveillance had produced forfeiting half of the EU’s €150 million loan to no result by the year’s end. help with the Covid-19 pandemic. UNFAIR TRIALS Covid-19 infections and related deaths spiked in August-September and November. Concerns grew regarding government Vaccination roll-out was slow as anti-vaccine influence over the judiciary, the use of attitudes remained strong, influenced by the selective justice and the politically motivated Georgian Orthodox Church. prosecution of political opponents and critical The breakaway regions of Abkhazia and media. South Ossetia/Tskhinvali Region remained Two cartographers detained on questionable under Russian occupation and overall charges of “violating the country’s territorial control. integrity” in October 2020 were released on FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND bail on 28 January, but the criminal case ASSEMBLY against them remained open. On 23 February, police arrested opposition Members of the opposition, civic activists and party chair and parliamentarian Nika Melia journalists critical of the government were for purported incitement of violence during threatened and attacked. The authorities at 2019 anti-government protests. He was times made statements condoning such released on 10 May after the EU posted his violence, fostering the sense of impunity. bail, seeking to ease government-opposition On 5 July, the planned Tbilisi Pride march tensions. was cancelled after police failed to protect The trial continued of the director and co- the organizers from violent counter- founder of the pro-opposition TV channel protesters. The same day, a violent Mtavari on unfounded charges of abuse of homophobic mob ransacked the building power and embezzlement. Giorgi Rurua, one housing the Tbilisi Pride office and forced the of the channel’s main shareholders, was organizers to flee. Around 50 journalists at pardoned and released in April from a four- the site were attacked and injured. One of year sentence imposed in 2020. those severely beaten, TV Pirveli’s camera On 1 October, Georgia’s former president operator Lekso Lashkarava, was found dead Mikheil Saakashvili was arrested on his return in his house six days after the incident. The from exile to serve a six-year sentence authorities denied responsibility, blaming the passed in his absence. Following a five-week Pride organizers for effectively provoking the hunger strike, he was forcibly transferred to a violence, and published extensive CCTV prison hospital without adequate healthcare footage of Lekso Lashkarava’s last day, facilities where he faced threats and insults insinuating that he might have procured from other inmates and degrading treatment drugs. The authorities failed to identify the by the prison authorities. On 20 November organizers of the mass violence or ensure an he was transferred to a military hospital in a effective investigation of the violent events by critical condition, but transferred back to the year’s end. prison on 30 December. His doctors reported MASS SURVEILLANCE that his health had been seriously damaged as a result of ill-treatment. An investigation by On 12 September, thousands of files the State Inspector’s Service into the revealing widespread surveillance and allegations was halted after the institution was wiretaps by the State Security Service of disestablished. Mikheil Saakashvili’s request Georgia were leaked to the media and the for a retrial was denied. internet, featuring details about the personal In November, the EU ambassador criticized lives of journalists, civil activists, politicians, the Georgian authorities’ “setbacks in the clerics and diplomats. An investigation into area of the judiciary and rule of law”, including politicized, “non-transparent and Amnesty International Report 2021/22 173