Front Line is concerned following reports of the harassment campaign against human rights defender Mr Arnold Stepanyan, Chairperson of the umbrella human rights organisation Multinational Georgia.

Further Information

Arnold Stepanyan is an expert on inter-ethnic relations, an active member of the Initiative group of the Assembly of Tbilisi Armenians, and a co-founder of the Multiethnic Resource Centre for Civil Education Development. He is one of the authors of the critical alternative report on the protection of minority rights in Georgia which was submitted to the Council of Europe. He is also a co-founder of For Democracy, a coalition of non-governmental organisations, and a member of a group which organised a demonstration held in Tbilisi on 15 March 2009 in protest against human rights violations.

On 19 March 2009, a district police inspector visited the office of the Multiethnic Resource Centre for Civil Education Development and asked questions about the leadership of the organisation. The same day, an unknown person who refused to identify himself called Multinational Georgia to inquire about whether Arnold Stepanyan was the Chairperson of the organisation and what his working hours at the office were.

Also on the same day, the Tax Inspection Office of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia closed down a small enterprise called Arnold Stepanyan and a company called Giperioni. Arnold Stepanyan enterprise was established in 2000 and was run by the father of Arnold Stepanyan. Giperioni was co-founded by Arnold Stepanyan. Another member of Multinational Georgia was also summoned to the Tax Inspection Office. The fact that this action came at the same time as the closure of the enterprises Arnold Stepanyan and Giperioni suggests that it may form part of a harassment campaign against Arnold Stepanyan and Multinational Georgia.

Front Line believes that the harassment against Arnold Stepanyan is directly related to his peaceful activities in the defence of human rights, in particular the rights of minorities in Georgia.