Council of Journalistic Ethic Charter Initiated a Solidarity Demonstration in the Yard of the MediaPalitra

Today, Georgian Council of the Journalistic Ethic Charter initiated a solidarity demonstration in the yard of the MediaPalitra office.

The demonstration lasted more than one hour. Journalists and public figures associate the raid of the Revenue Department in the branch offices of the MediaPalitra with their impartial reporting of the events on May 26. The politicians also joined the demonstration.

On May 7, audit division of the Revenue Department simultaneously launched a snap inspection in six various institutions of the MediaPalitra Company; some of their offices were sealed up though the Revenue Department has already removed seals from several of them by now.

The Council of Journalistic Ethic Charter of Georgia hopes the inspection in the MediaPalitra is not connected with impartial reporting of the events on May 26.

The Council of Journalistic Ethic Charter expresses its solidarity with the journalists of the publishing house MediaPalitra and calls upon the Revenue Department and other public institutions to transparently inspect the publishing house, not to hinder professional activities of the journalists.

The Council also appeals to the representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia and international organizations for journalists’ rights not to lessen their attention in Georgia and assist prevention of restriction of the freedom of expression in Georgia.

“We call upon the Georgian society to jointly fight against establishment of open or covered methods of censorship in Georgian media and for the development of high-ethic journalism because only in similar environment every citizen will be able receive impartial information,” the statement of the Council of Journalistic Ethic Charter stated.