Movement for release of Nika Gvaramia, imprisoned opposition journalist

Nika Gvaramia movement

A “Movement for the Release of Nika Gvaramia” was begun to obtain the released of the general director of the TV company “Mtavari Arkhi” (“main channel”). At a briefing, lawyer Bachan Shengelia said that by arresting Gvaramia, the authorities called into question the country’s European future.

“It is clear that his imprisonment harms the interests of the state, harms the process of European integration and goes beyond the agenda of any political party. We believe that the fate of the European future of the country depends on Nika Gvaramia’s release, along with many other problems. That is why Nika Gvaramia’s friends and media representatives decided to create a movement whose goal is his release from prison by increasing pressure on all branches of government in close coordination with our strategic partners outside the country,” Shengelia said.

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Nika Gvaramia, CEO of Mtavari, the most popular opposition TV company in the country, was sentenced on May 16, 2022 to three years and six months in prison on charges of abuse of office, namely the use of an official car for family needs.

On November 2, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal upheld this decision.

The U.S. Embassy in Georgia responded to the dismissal of the appeal by saying that at a time when Georgia’s commitment to judicial impartiality and media pluralism is under scrutiny, the ongoing imprisonment of Nika Gvaramia threatens the clear choice of the Georgian people and “the stated goal of the Georgian leadership to be a safer , democratic, European future”.

Independent experts, NGOs and politicians believe Gvaramia’s arrest to be politically motivated.

Amnesty International’s executive director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers, also called the case politically motivated.

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