According to the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Judge Vladimer Khuchua, of the Tetritskaro Municipality, who confirmed the violation of the secrecy in the ballot during the October 26 elections invalidating the results at 30 polling stations has been the target of a discrediting effort by media affiliated with Georgian Dream, anonymous social media pages and individual, according the election watchdog.
ISFED reports that “shortly after the announcement, discrediting messages were spread on Facebook and TikTok.” The watchdog notes the campaign was orchestrated primarily by pro-government media outlets, including Info9, Newshub and POSTV, anonymous anti-opposition accounts and pages, and pro-government actors. The watchdog notes that the posts were posted at short intervals and had identical messages.
Judge Vladimer Khuchua has ruled in favor complaints filed by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. He confirmed that the secrecy in the ballot was violated during the 2024 parliamentary elections because the ballot paper is so thin that you can see who someone voted for on the other side.
Salome Zurabishvili, the President of Georgia, responded to Kuchua’s announcement by writing: “One Judge dared to admit that electronic voting machines did breach confidentiality. Salome Zurabishvili responded to Kuchua’s decision by writing: “One judge dared to acknowledge that the electronic machines did breach voting confidentiality. !”
ISFED notes the discrediting campaign that was launched against Vladimer Khuchua, which focused on the fact that his spouse is an opposition supporter. ISFED notes that the pro-government actors refer to Khuchua’s wife as “the radical opposition activist” and state that Khuchua took the decision under her influence.
The pro-government Imedi News on Facebook states: “The first instance judge Vladimer Kuchua has annulled results for several districts.” Elza Gurgenidze is Khuchua’s wife and a radical activist.
A POSTV post that is pro-government says: “The wife of the protest.” The husband from the courtroom. The radical opposition is using the family of Khuchua/Gurgenidze.”
ISFED cites several anonymous pages and individuals affiliated with GD who have also posted similar posts on social media.
Moreover, these messages were spread by anti-opposition groups, including the GD offshoot United Neutral Georgia and by experts claiming to be knowledgeable. Vato Shakarishvili of United Neutral Georgia even accused the West for influencing the decision of the judge.
“Some of the posts contained hatred speech.” There were also sexist and abusive comments. The shared post focused on the fact that the woman had influenced a judge in the Tetritskaro municipal. The media outlet POSTV also shared a homophobic message about Khuchua and his family,” ISFED reports, citing screenshots from the posts.
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