Media Advocacy Coalition: Restriction of access to the Internet is inadmissible
Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition member organizations consider it inadmissible to restrict access to the Internet in Namokhvani.
“We would like to remind the government that access to the Internet and the right to free usage of the Internet is protected by the Constitution of Georgia. While on the background of high public interest in the ongoing protest rally in Namokhvani, it is unacceptable to restrict the constitutionally guaranteed right unjustifiably.
According to the spread information, “the Ministry of Internal Affairs has jammed also the Internet connection in Namokhvani today, due to which fact it is impossible to stream live”.
As the local population state, such a failure of Internet transmission has not been observed in Namokhvani before.
We call on the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia to:
- Make a statement in regard to the fact of unlawful restriction of freedom of expression;
- Take immediate measures to ensure access to the Internet so as to enable people in Namokhvani to exercise the right to receive and transmit information, while journalists have adequate working conditions for their professional activities.
We urge the Communications Commission to investigate the Internet disruption in Namokhvani and provide us with information regarding currently existing indicators”, - is noted in the statement of the coalition.
Source: The website of the Coalition on a social network
