As many as 45 cases of violence against media employees identified in 2023 - TI

JAMnews

Tbilisi

Violence against journalists in Georgia

According to Transparency International-Georgia research, about 45 cases of various types of violence, particularly public harassment and intimidation, against media employees occurred in 2023.

1.Examples of open attacks

● In June, Misha Mshvildadze, one of the founders and anchor of “Formula” TV company, was attacked in one of the central streets of Tbilisi.

● In July, the crews of Mtavari Archi and Formula, who came to cover an event of the opposition United National Movement party in Sagarejo municipality, Kakheti region, were attacked and faced obstruction of journalistic activities.

● In July, the “Mtavari Archi” crew that came to cover Tbilisi Pride again faced obstruction of professional activities.

● In August, the “Mtavari archi” film crew that came to Khais village of Mestia municipality was also attacked.

● In October, according to Mtavari Archi, police blocked the access to the village of Chorvili for media representatives who had come there to cover the protest march of the United National Movement. During the confrontation between supporters of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili and opposition activists, a cameraman of Pirveli TV channel was hit by a stone and a journalist was hit by an egg.

● In September, bodyguards of former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze, who is under U.S. sanctions, attacked, physically assaulted, and seized equipment from film crews of “Pirveli” and “Formula” TV channels in Tbilisi.

2.Threats and alleged attempts to intimidate

● In June, during the trial of the accused in the attack on Misha Mshvildadze in the city court, Vato Shakarashvili, founder of the Georgia First movement, an active supporter of Georgian Dream and former party member, stated that Nodar Meladze, head of the news service of Pirveli TV station, would be the next target of an attack.

● In August, a civil servant threatened to “throw into the water” Gela Mtivlishvili, editor of the online publication Mti News. Georgian Dream chairman Irakli Kobakhidze called the journalist a “scumbag” and the parliament speaker instructed him to delete the Facebook post. Later, he also called Mtivlishvili a “self-proclaimed journalist.”

● Unknown persons called from different numbers and threatened the anchor of “Formula” TV channel Irakli Tabliashvili.

●In October, photographer Vaho Kareli was summoned to the State Security Service of Georgia for questioning in connection with the investigation of the so-called “coup d’état” case.

●New forms of attempts by the ruling party to discredit independent media have been noted. For example, in September it became known that the Speaker of the Parliament Shalva Papuashvili sent a letter to international donors expressing dissatisfaction after the independent online publication OC Media refused to publish an article.

● In October, TV channels loyal to the government broadcast a series of stories. In them, representatives of the ruling team suggested that the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the magazine Indigo were involved in the development of a revolutionary scenario in Georgia.

● In February, the legislature adopted a new accreditation rule for journalists. This raised fears that media representatives could be suspended for critical questions. The parliamentary accreditation of 11 journalists from critical media outlets has already been suspended on the basis of the new rule.

3. Violence against journalists during protests, arrests and fines

● While covering the rallies against the so-called “Russian law” on foreign agents held in early March, two journalists – Zura Vardiashvili, director of the online publication Publika, and Beka Jikurashvili, journalist of Tabula – were arrested. Later the court fined them. During the same actions, several cases of interference in journalistic activities were recorded, as well as violence against media representatives by law enforcement officers.

●There were also crimes against journalists, which may not be directly related to their professional activities, but caused fear and insecurity. Journalists themselves relate these incidents to the context of their professional activities. For example:

● In February, the house of Nato Gogelia, a journalist of “Pirveli” TV company in Ozurgeti, was burglarized twice in a short period of time.

● In July, an external hard disk was stolen from the car of Nodar Meladze, head of the information service of “Pirveli” TV company, while other expensive personal belongings were left untouched.

●Also in July, documents were stolen from the apartment of journalist Vasil Dabashvili. According to the journalist, he is also under surveillance.