Georgian civic activist referred to as ‘traitor’ for taking a photo with the Ossetian journalist

Tatia Dolidze, ex-representative of Georgia’s youth delegation to UN, has been referred to as ‘traitor’ due to a photo taken with the Ossetian journalist and human rights defender, Temur Tskhurbat.

The aforesaid photo, which later triggered a scandal, was uploaded on Facebook by Tatia Dolidze a year ago. The photo was taken at the Civil Forum’s organized Georgian-Ossetian meeting in Serbia, last year.

At first, the ‘Georgians march’ organizers and supporters shared the aforesaid photo as a compromising evidence against Tatia Dolidze.

“Tatia Dolidze has taken a photo with the Ossetia separatist,” commented those, who shared the photo.

It’s not the first ‘attack’ on Tatia Dolidze on part of the representatives of the ‘Georgians march’ movement. Earlier, two days ago, the ‘Georgians march’ organizers made Facebook posts, threatening to sexually abuse the former representative of Georgia’s youth delegation. Their indignation was caused by Tatia Dolidze FB post, in which she slammed the ‘Georgians march’ idea.

The ‘Georgians’ march’ was held in Tbilisi on 14 July. The nationalist-minded organizers of the march demanded toughening the rules for migrants staying in Georgia. The march organizers frequently use their personal FB pages for making homophobic and racist remarks, addressed to the march opponents.

On 17 July, Georgian Interior Ministry launched an investigation into alleged threats against Tatia Dolidze, disseminated through social media.

This time, however, the ‘Georgians march’ representatives stirred up a new scandal on social media, using Tatia Dolidze’s photo with the Ossetian journalist as a compromising evidence against her.

Tatia Dolidze responded to the aforesaid fact through the Facebook. “They are spreading a photo featuring me and Temur Tskhurbati, saying I’m a traitor, as if I hadn’t published this photo on Facebook myself. This defamation is just ridiculous.

Well, if you are so much interest, let me answer you that I am a participant in the confidence-building process between the Georgians and Ossetias, which is carried out as part of the UNDP-funded Team of Trust project. Temur is an Ossetian, he has been striving for independence of the so-called South Ossetia and he fought against Georgians. However, todays he says that he is against the war and he is engaged the confidence-building process. Now he is heading the South Ossetian youth delegation,” Tatia Dolidze’s FB post reads.

When discussing this issue, the Georgian Facebook users have split into two. One part shares the opinion of the ‘Georgians march’ organizers, regarding ‘taking a photo with the Ossetian separatist as shameful’, while another part is outraged over the fact that the aforesaid photo has become ‘compromising evidence’: ‘As a matter of interest, how are we going to restore the long-cherished ‘territorial integrity’ if meeting and talking with the Ossetians is regarded as unacceptable and compromising,” they wonder.

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