Far-right movements organized xenophobic and homophobic marches in the capital Tbilisi. The national currency, Lari, continued to devalue, adversely affecting living standards. In February, Georgian nationals were granted visa-free travel to the Schengen Area after the government implemented several key institutional and legislative reforms demanded as a precondition by the EU. IMPUNITY Impunity for human rights abuses committed by law enforcement officers persisted, while the government continued to promise, but failed to deliver, an independent investigation mechanism. In June, instead of an independent investigation mechanism, the government proposed a new department within the Prosecutor’s Office with a mandate to investigate alleged abuses by law enforcement officers. In June, two members of the rap group Birja Mafia were arrested for alleged drug possession, and demonstrations erupted in their support. The arrested musicians said police had planted drugs on them in revenge for a YouTube video satirizing a police officer, and cited earlier threats from police demanding that they remove the video. The protests resulted in their release on bail pending trial. An investigation was launched into the musicians’ allegations of police abuse and was ongoing at the end of the year. In June, the first instance court in Kutaisi acquitted the police officer charged with “exceeding official capacity”. The alleged victim, Demur Sturua, a 22-year-old resident of Dapnari, western Georgia, committed suicide on 8 August 2016. The prosecution’s evidence included Demur Sturua’s note blaming the police officer for his suicide, a postmortem examination confirming signs of ill-treatment, video footage showing the officer picking up Demur Sturua with his car on the day of the suicide, and phone call logs. NGOs criticized the court’s decision, calling it unsubstantiated in light of the 172 evidence. The prosecution appealed against the Court’s decision. LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY On 29 May, Azerbaijani investigative journalist Afghan Mukhtarli – who was exiled in Georgia – vanished from Tbilisi, and reappeared the following day in Azerbaijan in official custody, falsely accused of illegal border crossing and money smuggling. He told his lawyer that he had been abducted by Georgian-speaking men, some wearing Georgian criminal police uniforms, and trafficked across the border. The authorities denied the involvement of Georgian forces, and started an investigation into Afghan Mukhtarli’s allegations. The investigation was not known to have produced substantial results; he remained in detention in Azerbaijan at the end of the year. JUSTICE SYSTEM The litigation over the ownership of Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company, a pro-opposition TV channel, continued. On 2 March, the Supreme Court ruled to transfer the ownership of Rustavi 2 TV to its former coowners – known to be government supporters – upholding previous rulings by the court of first instance and the Court of Appeals. Local NGOs raised concerns about possible government interference in the judicial process and called the trial unfair. In March, the European Court of Human Rights requested that enforcement of the Supreme Court’s decision be suspended until it had considered the case. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Russian forces and de facto authorities in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continued to restrict movement across the de facto border, briefly detaining and fining dozens of people for “illegal” border crossing. The increased fencing along the administrative boundary lines continued to adversely affect the rights of local residents, including the rights to work, food and an adequate standard of living, owing to Amnesty International Report 2017/18