Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Public Relations Department denies Opression of Journalists

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources’ Public Relations Department is denying all allegations concerning oppression of journalists. According to a statement released by the service director, Ekaterine Bendeliani, she spoke with both officials of the Ministry and they denied any such conflict journalists.

“When I talked to the Ministry officials, they denied having any such conflict. So one would assume that no such actions ever happened. However, if in any ways this oppression is confirmed, we will definitely take measures against both officials,”  stated Bendeliani.

Officials of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Alverd Chankseliani and Khatuna Akhalaia, physically and verbally insulted the journalists from the Kakheti information center, Madona Batiashvili and Gela Mtivlishvili. The incident took place on July 30 at 17:00 in the ministry’s building. Ministry officials threatened the journalists, “You’re sick, you need some treatment” and “I’ll make you pay whenever I meet you again.”