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Financial Police against the Newspaper “The Georgian Times”

July 15, 2004

                 Financial Police against the Newspaper “The Georgian Times”  

On July 15, 2004, the Financial Police entered the editorial office of “The Georgian Times” to look into the financial activity of the newspaper and ascertain financial records. It turned out to be quite unexpected for the management of the newspaper; but, soon it was given the interpretation of being linked with Valeri Grigalashvili, the Prosecutor of Tbilisi, who disliked the article published in this newspaper and threatened the correspondent of the newspaper.


Giorgi Kapanadze, the editor in chief of “The Georgian Times” considers this fact as pressure on the mass media. He plans to apply to Zurab Adeishvili, the Prosecutor General, and to the President, Michael Saakashvili. Kapanadze is sure that the President and the Prosecutor do not have any interest in closing of the newspaper. According to him, it is only in the interests of Valeri Grigalashvili to cancel the newspaper.


The Financial Police deny any involvement of the City Prosecutor in this affair.
According to the allegations of Irakli Pirveli, the Deputy Head of the Tbilisi Operative Department, “The Georgian Times” is a usual entrepreneur, a legal body being responsible to the budget. Having the information about the budgetary violations, Irakli  Pirveli alleges that they entered the office of the newspaper fulfilling the controlling function of the Financial Police. He excludes the possibility of closing the newspaper and notes that in the case the police find any violations, a criminal case will be launched. 
 

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