Georgian President calls for maintaining status quo around Rustavi 2 TV until the Constitutional and European Court deliver their judgments

Georgian President, Giorgi Margvelashvili, released a special statement with regard to the court ruling on the opposition Rustavi 2 TV case, calling on all parties, in view of political importance of the matter, to refrain from making ‘hasty steps’ until the Constitutional and European Court on Human Rights issue their rulings.

In the Georgian President’s words, he cannot interfere in the TV company ownership dispute. However, as he added, Rustavi 2 TV, equally as any other media, ‘is not just a business’, but rather represents a very important component in country public and political life.’

“Rustavi 2 TV is a medium for expressing government-critical and contrary opinions, which is important for Georgia’s European future. Rustavi 2 TV theme was raised practically at all meetings that I held with the international partners and I expressed my position in this regard. The international community doesn’t view Rustavi 2 TV case as a judicial dispute, but rather as the issue of freedom of speech,” President Margvelashvili stated.

Georgian Government’s Administration also released a statement with regard to Rustavi 2 TV case. In particular, the Government called on the public ‘to respect the democratic institutions’, reminding that the judicial dispute around TV company proceeded amidst ‘a burdensome legacy’ related to violation of the ownership right.

19 leading non-governmental organizations expressed concern about the Supreme Court’s ruling.  As it is pointed out in their statement, ‘the delivered judment restricts the freedom of speech and poses risk to the process of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration.”