Government Tries to Divide Journalists

Government Tries to Divide Journalists

On March 14, a round table talk entitled ‘Media and Government’, involving the representatives of local government and the media, was arranged in the Meeting Hall of the Telavi State University. The journalists present however ended up violating each others rights instead of standing together in a united front against government pressure.

On March 14, the local government, regional media and the Ombudsman participated in a meeting organized by the ‘Spektri’ newspaper and the ‘Institute for War and Peace Reporting’ (an NGO). The meeting, held in the Telavi State University, did not go smoothly.

Maia Kalabegashvili, editor of the ‘Spektri’ newspaper and an organizer of the meeting, placed the so called ‘best’ journalists in a ‘VIP booth’. During the meeting, Gela Mtivlishvili, Editor in Chief of the ‘Imedi’ newspaper was moved to the VIP booth. However, this happened not because Mtivlishvili was somehow privileged, but so he was “a perfect target for the attackers”.

The journalists outside the VIP booth were not allowed to ask questions or make any comment. Strangely, Maia Kalabegashvili declared “the meeting is not to be recorded” and demanded that the camera crews leave the hall.

The camera crews obeyed Kalabegashvili’s orders and left the room with their equipment. At first the journalists were confused by the behavior of their colleague. However, later, they understood that this was another attempt by the government to divide the media.

The organizers of the meeting then ‘launched their attack upon Gela Mtivlishvili’. The organizers had also invited Gela Mtivlishvili’s enemies to perform supporting roles in their theatre of abuse – a theatre in which Mtivlishvili was to bear the brunt of the insults.

According to information that had been spread beforehand, the meeting was to focus on problems between the local government and journalists. The issues were to be discussed in the presence of the ombudsman. Despite the fact that the ‘Tanamgzavri’ TV station usually experiences difficulty gaining the cooperation of the local authorities, it was ignored and not given a seat in the VIP booth. Those left outside this VIP booth, were forbidden to speak.  

Since the representatives of the ‘Tanamgzavri’ TV station were not allowed to speak about the pressure they suffer from the local government, they protested against meeting and left the hall. The other journalists expressed solidarity with them too. “I know that the government creates problems, especially for journalists working in the Kakheti region. The meeting failed to look at any concrete examples”, says Ia Antadze, a journalist with ‘Tavisufleba’ radio. Khtuna Guliashvili, a journalist for the ‘Mze’ TV station also portrayed the behavior of her colleagues negatively: “I don’t know what to call or how to assess a situation when particular journalists are forbidden from saying a word during a meeting organized by their colleagues. I wanted to speak about the views I have towards the government but I had no a chance do to that”.

The majority of the participants left in the room, among them the Ombudsman, simply laughed at the journalists’ protest.

Both the Ombudsman and the Local Governor remained indifferent to the harassment of the ‘Imedi’ editor, who in turn also decided to leave the hall. Before he could leave he was physically and verbally assaulted by Paata Jachvliani, a press secretary at Gurjaani regional administration. Furthermore, Jachvliani even attempted to hit him, but was prevented from doing so by some of the other journalists.  

Maia Mamulashvili, an editor of the ‘Kakhetis Khma” newspaper, presented the local government, media and the ombudsman the conclusions of a ‘Journalist Investigation’, regarding the attempted assassination of Gela Mtvilishvili. She alleged that Gela Mtivlishvili organized the assassination attempts against himself.  

The ombudsman Sozar Subar expressed his opinions about the facts: “The journalists provided us with the conclusions of their investigation, though; they could have done that earlier. I wonder why the investigation of the assassination attempts has been suspended”.

The regional media representatives also gave negative opinions about the behavior of Kalabegashvili and Mamulashvili. A journalist at the ‘Tanamgzavri’ TV station, Roman Kevkhishvili, stated: “These pro-government journalists put on a perfect performance. The main topic of the meeting was supposed to be local media problems but no one was interested in finding out about them. The meeting was aimed at ‘sinking’ the ‘Imedi’ independent regional newspaper and attacking Gela Mtivlishvili.

Veriko Kobiashvili from Telavi