A new round of sex scandal on Georgian television

Sex scandal on Georgian TV

Former TV presenter Tatia Samkharadze posted an appeal to Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Facebook, claiming that journalists from government channel POS TV have been following her for three days, forcing her to stay indoors, and requesting help from the president.

On March 24 Natia Beridze, a journalist for POSTV, called the police and reported that Dmitry Chikovani, a member of the opposition United National Movement and brother of Formula TV founder David Kezerashvili, had allegedly kidnapped journalist Tatia Samkharadze.

Police went to Chikovani’s house and investigated.

Film crews from POS TV, Imedi and Rustavi 2 TV channels also stood outside Chikovani’s house for two days. All three of these channels are controlled by the government.

Samkharadze says that she was in Chikovani’s house — not in captivity, but on a visit. According to her, the authorities are behind the “hybrid special operation” and phoney call to the police.

Although Samkharadze claims that she did not abduct anyone, law enforcement launched an investigation into the alleged abduction.

POS TV reports that the journalist has injuries, but Samkharadze herself denies this.

The former TV presenter says that it is POS TV journalists who are restricting her freedom by essentially camping outside her residence.

Samkharadze addresses President Salome Zurabishvili:

“Madam President, help me, they have turned my destruction into a reality show.”

With whom and for what is Tatia Samkharadze fighting?

In 2016 TV presenter Tatia Samkharadze accused well-known propagandist and showman Shalva Ramishvili of sexual harassment. At that time Samkharadze worked for the Imedi television company, and Ramishvili was her boss. Samkharadze filed a complaint with the court and won the case. The court imposed a fine on Ramishvili, who appealed unsuccessfully.

But the scandal did not put a stop to his career.

Although Imedi stopped working with Ramishvili, he launched a new TV and internet project POSTV, which became one of the main purveyors of pro-government messages. The channel functions to denigrate the opposition, NGOs and Western politicians, as well as to spread “Russian” narratives. The channel lobbied for the law on foreign agents.

Shalva Ramishvili is one of the most scandalous figures on Georgian television. Under the previous government, he was arrested for extorting money from MP Koba Bekauri and served a four-year sentence. After the Georgian Dream party came to power, he became their television spokesman.

During the 2013 presidential election, he led the PR campaign headquarters of Giorgi Margvelashvili, then worked in the presidential administration.

In addition to Samkharadze, several other women have accused Ramishvili of sexual harassment during interviews on POS TV.

Last week, Formula TV published an audio recording made in 2018 by Anania Gagachechiladze, one of Ramishvili’s victims. On the recording, one can clearly hear how Ramishvili harasses Gachechiladze in his office.

Many believe that it was this that became the reason for the persecution of Tatia Samkharadze and Dmitry Chikovani.

Ramishvili himself denies allegations of sexual harassment and claims that Kezerashvili is behind them, having bribed these women.

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After Anania Gachechiladze’s recording was aired by Formula, Ramishvili wrote a threatening post on Facebook:

“You yourself will have big problems. The closet of your past will open like a Pandora’s box. And almost all of your skeletons are hidden in this closet. I’m watching you.”

The reaction of politicians

Human rights activists, NGOs and the opposition express their solidarity with Samkharadze.

The Droa party claims that the whole story was concocted to protect Ramishvili:

“The fact that Shalva Ramishvili, after a guilty verdict and dozens of stories about sexual harassment, sits on television and has leverage over these women in an unfair fight, obliges us, the rest of society, to support these women.”

A joint statement was made by female deputies who say that the state has sided with a criminal, and this is unacceptable:

“Over the past few days, the government has gone through a phase of silence that we have seen on other occasions and is openly supporting the oppressor, calling on all victims of violence and discrimination to remain silent and encourage perpetrators,” the statement read.

The reaction of the public defender

The newly appointed People’s Defender of Georgia Levan Yoseliani has thus far kept silent, drawing criticism on social networks.

The first statement from the Public Defender was published on 27 March.

The Ombudsman expressed his support for the alleged victims of harassment and expressed his readiness to examine their individual cases if they approached him.

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that some members of the public and politicians have resorted to aggression towards alleged victims – they question their stories and point out that they began to talk about sexual harassment only years later, which is aimed at undermining the reputation of the alleged harasser “, the Ombudsman said in a statement.

The Ombudsman draws attention to the problem of “media coverage”.

According to the ombudsman’s office, he will be interested in the progress of the criminal case, which, according to a private individual, was initiated on the basis of a false report.

“The Public Defender will also remind the public that any violence against journalists is unacceptable,” the statement said.

Giorgi Burdzhanadze, Deputy Public Defender, is bolder in his assessments:

“I watched the video of Tatia Samkharadze several times. Everything that happens to her is incredible. The scale of this lawlessness and impudence is unimaginable!”

Burjanadze calls the incident “a special operation to rescue a state propagandist” and at the same time says that there are many serious violations of the law in this story:

“The unlawful violation of the right to privacy, the harassment and discrediting of human rights defenders, and the use of law enforcement officers for political purposes are clearly visible.”

Burjanadze expresses his solidarity with Tatia Samkharadze.

• New sexual harassment scandal in Georgia by pro-government journalist
• Political Prisoners and Restrictions on Media Freedom in Georgia – US State Department Report