The Georgian chapter of the international writers' association PEN has stepped up its campaign for international recognistion of what it describes as a "bute violation of the right of expression and free speech" after what it says was the arrest of three poets for reading their own and Walt Whitman's verses at a protest against the naming of one of Tbilisi's major streets in honour of George W Bush.

The three - Shota Gagarin, Aleksi Chigvinadze and Irakli Kakabadze - do not deny that they were involved in defacing the over-sized street sign that features a picture of George Bush: though that is not an arrestable offence in Georgian law and, in any case, they say the police were not present when it took place so could not have judged who was responsible.

Instead the three were charged and convicted under article 173 of the Georgian criminal code - which forbids serious resistance to the police, such as resisting arrest. However the whole event was filmed and it is absolutely clear the three co-operated fully with their arrest. The police have also claimed the three disobeyed a police order not to block traffic but again the three respond that the video shows they did not block traffic and merely read their poems while standing on a traffic island.

The PEN statement reads:

The public broadcaster, which has recently been seen as taking a turn towards serious journalistic standards and ethics, looks as though it has returned to being nothing more than a propaganda tool of the Saakashvili regime after it failed to report yesterday's disturbances in central Tbilisi.

The two other national channels - Rustavi 2 and Imedi - also ignored the events: which saw large-scale scuffling outside the parliament, the arrest of opposition activists and the escape from cutody of one of the arrested. But no one seriously expects these channels to do anything than follow the orders of the regime.

The public broadcaster, however, has recently taken advice from the BBC on how to run a news room and has seen non-partisan figures commited to quality journalism join its governing board (which, however, has no editorial role). During the May elections it was the public broadcaster - as opposed to the two national commercial channels - that hosted a debate between mayoral candidates which for the first time put the ruling party on the same footing as the opposition.

Now the elections are over and many western observers have given the conclusion Saakashvili wanted - that he may not be perfect but he's cleaning up his act - the signs are that the regime is once more persuing a path of radicalisation: partly driven by its dire financial straits and the collapse of its libertarian vision of Georgia's future as the country depends on western grants and loans.

Business investors privately say that extortion in the form of raids bty the tax police have increased, refugees in Tbilis are being evicted and faced with a choice between destitution in the capital or merely poverty in the countryside as the regime looks to privatise their former homes and, as yesterday's events suggest, the screw of political repression is being once more slowly tightened.

The Saakashvili regime has repeatedly proved itself to be its own worst enemy and plainly hasn't even learnt the lesson that turning TV stations into propaganda outlets in the long term will only serve to undermine social trust and respect for democracy and the rule of law.

Opposition poliician - and former Saakashvili minister - Goga Khaindrava has told the BBC's Russian service that Mikheil Saakashvili is on a mission to destroy Georgian nationhood through the promotion of homosexuality:

The goal is to break this absolutely rock-solid part of the Georgian mentality and Georgian identity - Christian morality. Against it is the explicit overt assault from the government, whose mission to break the Christian morality in Georgian society

Evidence for this bizarre claim is not supplied beyond his report that Nina Kobalia, a tourism official in Batumi and sister of the controversial economy minister Vera Kobalia, is alleged to have encouraged gay tourists to come to the Black Sea resort.

Georgia remains one of the most homophobic societies in Europe and religious influence over sexual morality remains strong - whilst at the same time prostitution is legal and widespread.

In the last year conflict over homosexuality has never been far from the surface of Georgian public life: although elements of the opposition accuse the government of promoting sexual anarchy, the state has also used homophobic blackmail to attack media freedom while the row over the controversial satirical book Saidumlo Siroba ("Holy Crap"), which featured descriptions of the narrator's incestuous and homosexual fantasies, climaxed in a punch up on live TV between free speech proponents and members of the "People's Orthodox Movement", a body which has adopted many of the trappings of a fascist movement.

Now the fight is over a supposed proposal for a gay pride parade in Batumi. Nobody quoted by the BBC who might organise such an event (as opposed to protest against it) actually says they are planning to hold one. Though, understandably enough, they are not rushing to deny themselves the same rights as gay people elsewhere in Europe. Paata Burchuladze of the Inclusive Foundation tells the BBC:

A gay pride parade is not an end in itself, a gay parade is a method to achieve the goal - to attract public attention to the problems of people who can not be solved in the country. The main target of a gay pride parade would be those in power. To hold a parade in secret, with the support of those in power- it's just an amazing idea, and this will never happen.

The Centre for Cultural Relationships NGO has been disbanded by the Ministry of Culture and evicted from its premises at Caucasian House. The move follows increased efforts by the ministry to promote the Smirnoff Museum which is also based at the same property. In a letter, members of the PEN Centre Georgia, have called on the international community to intervene and for writers in Georgia to stop cooperating with the ministry. The full text of the letter is below:

The Center for Cultural Relationships "Caucasian House" has united writers, translators and civil society leaders of different ethnic origins and nationalities. This non-governmental organisation has conducted many cultural, educational and peace building programs not just in Georgia, but around the whole Caucasus. It is also active in the movement for environmental protection, and the cultural and socio-economic rights of disenfranchised citizens of Caucasian countries. It has dedicated special attention to the question of minority rights and cultural integration of Caucasian peoples.

• Caucasian House publishes the literary-philosophical magazine "AFRA'
• Caucasian House has published Russian language magazine "Kavkazski Aktsent" that is distributed throughout the Caucasus
• Caucasian House publishes the magazine "Village" to promote sustainable development in the Caucasus
• Caucasian House has published literature on Georgian, Russian, European and Caucasian languages
• Caucasian House is responsible for translating many works of world literature into Caucasian languages
• Caucasian House has translated many works of Georgian writers into world languages

These were the reasons that Caucasian House was considered the "Alternative House for Writers" who were oppressed by the regime. This is why Georgian PEN Center found its home in Caucasian House. But after this the Ministry of Culture decided to disband this unique organisation, evict it from its home and promote the “Smirnoff Museum" in its place.

We do consider this as an act of persecution of Georgian Writers. This act is aimed against freedom of expression, and our struggle for peace and social justice in Georgia. This is further evidence that free expression is persecuted in Georgia.

We ask the international community to intervene and specifically we ask for help with the PEN Center Georgia. We also ask all Georgian writers to stop cooperating with the Ministry of Culture, until the government ceases to undermine free speech and evict the Center for Cultural Relationships.

Unfortunately, everyone knows today that the Georgian regime is not able to tolerate different opinions and all citizens who disagree with the government's position are punished severely: whether they are protesters, artists or scientists.

This practice needs to stop.

The letter has been signed by prominent members of the PEN Centre Georgia:

*David Magradze (President), Shorena Shaverdashvili (Vice-President), Davit Kartvelishvili (Vice-President), Rati Amaghlobeli (Vice-President), Keti Kighuradze (International Secretary), Nino Jhvania (Board Member), David Turashvili (Board Member), Naira Gelashvili (board member), Giorgi Kekelidze Board memeber), Irakli Kakabadze (member*).
 

US human rights group "Freedom House" have join the condemnation of the Georgian government's attempts to restrict access to information about court cases being heard in international courts.

Highlighted by georgiamediacentre.com several weeks ago, the changes would restrict public access to information about cases before the European Court of Human Rights and also - perhaps even more significantly as far as the Georgian government is concerned - to information about a forthcoming arbitration case to be heard between the family of the late Badri Patarkatsishvili and the Georgian authorities over the latter's seizure of Imedi TV and Mtatasminda amusement park in November 2007.

Writing for Eurasianet, Molly Corso, quotes Karin Deutsch Karleka, a senior ressearcher at Freedom House, saying:

“In general, adding exceptions to FOI laws does weaken them and, as such, is a threat to media freedom, This has occurred in recent years in the United States, as well as in a number of other media environments. So local activists are right to be concerned.”