KHAZARADZE v. GEORGIA

Published on 6 January 2025 FOURTH SECTIONApplication no. 12388/24Mamuka KHAZARADZEagainst Georgialodged on 24 April 2024communicated on 12 December 2024SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASEThe application concerns, under Articles 6 § 1 and 8 of the Convention, the applicant’s inability to have a slander lawsuit, directed against a Member of Parliament (“the MP”), examined on the merits.On 11 October 2023 the applicant, a former banker turned into an opposition politician, sued the MP from the ruling political party for slander on account of the following statement made by the latter on 10 October 2023 during a political TV show:“I would like to remind [the public] that [the applicant] was one of the accomplices to the scheme of racketeering of the business sector, which was implanted by the former ruling forces at the material time. (მამუკა ხაზარაძეზე შეგახსენებთ, რომ ის ერთ-ერთი თანამონაწილე იყო …