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Authority Has Dispersed the Only TV Company in Shida Kartli

May 28, 2007

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Local authority has opposed the mass media vehemently in Shida Kartli. On May 26, at 2:00 AM tractors pulled down the fence of the TV Company Trialeti.

Before the raid, the Gori Municipality Governor, Vasil Makharashvili’s resolution was brought to the TV Company Trialeti. He ordered the TV Company unless they pulled down the fence round the office, the Municipality would take urgent measures. There was not mentioned any reason why the fence should have been destroyed. Representatives of the TV Company have all documents to prove that they had permission to make a fence.

On the same day, on May 18, the “Trialeti” Company appealed against the Governor’s resolution at the Gori District Court. But it did not prevent the local authority to use tractors against the local TV Company on the Independence Day.

Besides the deconstruction of the fence, the tractors easily pulled out the plants in the square in front of the TV Company.

According to the Georgian Administrative Procedural Code, Article 29, if the court accepts the appeal on individual administrative-legal record, the process should be dropped until the court passes final verdict.

Representatives of the local authority cannot realize the role of the media; otherwise they should have acted under the law. The local authority does not know the Georgian Constitution either, which protects the rights on property.

According to the Georgian Constitution Article 21 the deprivation of the property can be justified under certain circumstances which are envisaged in the law. Thus, the property can be deprived according to the court decision or organ law and the owner must be compensated (certain circumstance can be a scheduled construction of the strategic entity on the place).

No strategic entity is going to be built near the “Trialeti”. Although the territory was fenced legally, now it was pulled down by the personal decision of the governor and the court decision was totally ignored in this situation.

The governor’s resolution violates the Georgian Constitution, Article 6 which states that all legal documents should be drawn up in accordance to the Georgian Constitution.

Patrol policemen watched the deconstruction. The head of the patrol police, Davit Tabutsadze, said that representatives of the local authority had introduced corresponding documents to the patrol policemen and the deconstruction was carried out legally.

Revaz Gogiashvili, the head of the Legal Service Department within the Gori Municipality, said that “I have commented on the fact with the Public Broadcasting Company and you can get information there.”

Gogiashvili said in his conversation with the journalists for the Public Broadcasting Company that the permission should have been issued to the “Kartuli Filmi” (Georgian Movie) and not to the Trialeti Company. Besides that the fence should have been ornamented with piles and not with decorative barrier.

Representatives of the Human Rights Centre’s Gori Office checked the documents according to which the Trialeti office had been allowed to surround the territory with iron construction.

Non-governmental organizations and opposition parties countered the dispersal of the Trialeti office. Shalva Tlashadze, member of the Republic Party, said that the local authority is undergoing hard political situation.

“Local authority needs media sources only before elections. In other circumstances they prevent them to work. Unfortunately, local authority cannot realize the role of the media in the process of the civil society’s development. Similar criminal activities would not do them any good. However, most part of our Municipality must have been fired long before,” said Tlashadze.

Ketevan Bebiashvili, the head of the Young Lawyers Association’s Gori Office, said that the Trialeti’s rights on property have been blatantly violated.

“In addition to the violation of the rights on property, local authority suppresses media sources. In this case the Administrative Body must be charged The TV Company has right to demand the compensation for the damage. Furthermore, the Company had appealed against the Administrative resolution at the court,” said Bebiashvili.
Employees of the “Trialeti” have been stating loudly for a long time that the high-ranking officials of the local authority want to get hold of the company.

“It is the next fact of harassment of independent media by the local authority. Recently, we have been presenting the subjects where people complained about the government. Mikheil Kareli, the Regional Gubernator, might have disliked similar subjects and he fails to get used to the fact that did not manage to influence the TV. Thus, he used such barbarian method. Local Authority uses all means to fight against the television and will never give in,” said Nino Chibchiuri, a journalist for the TV Company.

The author of the resolution, Vasil Makharashvili, does not answer phone calls.
 

Thea Tedliashvili, Gori

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