On January 24, 2015, Georgian Democracy Initiative held a training on the topic of “Standards of freedom of expression – local and international practice” in the Youth Club of the Union of Democrat Meskhs in Akhaltsikhe. The training aimed at raising consciousness about standards of freedom of expression and human rights and freedoms in young people.
The training was held in the framework of the project “Improving tolerance, religious freedom and human rights in Georgia” which is being implemented with the funding of the Human Rights Fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The training was led by specialists of human rights law, Besarion Bokhashvili and Giorgi Mshvenieradze.
The training participants paid particular attention to international and local standards and regulations of freedom of expression, the situation in Georgia in terms of freedom of expression, and the recent events that developed in France in connection with Charlie Hebdo.
In the final part of the training, the participants held a discussion about concrete examples of restriction of freedom of expression and their compliance with the requirements of law.
The training participants included students of public schools of Akhaltsikhe no. 1, 2, and 3; public school of Vale no. 1; public schools of the villages of Skhvilisi (Akhaltsikhe Municipality), Tsnisi, and Adigeni (Adigeni Municipality); Public Musical School of Akhaltsikhe; and Samtskhe-Javakheti State University.
