TV Pirveli founder claims ruling party is threatening his father because of the channel's discourse

Avtandil Tsereteli, the father of the owner and founder of the independent channel TV Pirveli, says he was threatened because of the TV company’s editorial policy.

Tsereteli says he was approached by two unknown ‘athletic-looking’ men while he was training on Lake Lisi near Tbilisi.

“’If your TV channel doesn’t stop, we’ll take care of you…’ I won’t say everything they said,” Tsereteli said, recalling the encounter.
The ruling Georgian Dream party is behind this threat, says Vakhtang Tsereteli, director of TV Pirveli.

“First, my father was hospitalized right from the courtroom with a heart attack and miraculously survived. Today he is already under direct threat. I warn the Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili to stop persecuting my family. They won’t succeed,” Vakhtang Tsereteli said.

The police have not retrieved video recordings of the incident from cameras around the outer perimeter and have not questioned witnesses, Vakhtang Tsereteli writes on Facebook.

________________________________________________

Avtandil Tsereteli, a 70-year-old businessman, father of Vakhtang Tsereteli – the owner of TV Pirveli – is one of the defendants in the TBC Bank case. And in recent months he has been frequently called to the prosecutor’s office.

The case, which is being investigated by the prosecutor’s office, concerns a TBC Bank transaction from 12 years ago. There is no official declarant or victim in the case.