According to Adjara Public Broadcaster, on 1 September 2015 there was an incident between the news crew and employees of Adjaran Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the editors, reporter Lasha Veliadze was verbally insulted in the yard of Keda Municipality winery while he was arranging an interview with the chief specialist of Information-Consultation Department of Adjaran Ministry of Agriculture Karlo Kekelidze. They were approached by an employee of Adjaran Ministry of Agriculture Mirza Suknishvili who insulted the journalist. During the incident the journalist was also physically attacked. Deputy Ministers of Agriculture of Adjara Rostom Shervashidze and Avtandil Meskhidze were present during the incident.

Mirza Suknishvili claimed that journalist was drunk. This was denied by the Broadcaster’s news service head Shorena Ghlonti who said that after the incident the journalist and cameraman were checked for alcohol in the Expertise Bureau and none of them tested positive. The TV channel requested investigation of the incident. The Chairman of the Government of Adjara ordered to suspend powers of Deputy Minister of Agriculture Avtandil Meskhidze until the report of the disciplinary commission had been drawn up.

According to the MIA, the investigation into Lasha Veliadze case was terminated as no elements of crime were found.

According to Transparency International Georgia, „This is not the first case when representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Adjara behave with the journalists inappropriately and in contradiction with the law. In December 2013 TV 25 journalist Sulkhan Meskhidze accused Deputy Minister Avtandil Meskhidze of making threats against him. TV reports on this issue did not result in any response either from the ministry or from any law enforcement agency.”

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According to the MIA, since there were no signs of a crime, investigation of Lasha Veliadze case was stopped, and Deputy Minister restored on his post.

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According to Transparency International Georgia, „This is not the first case when representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Adjara behave with the journalists inappropriately and in contradiction with the law. In December 2013 TV 25 journalist Sulkhan Meskhidze accused Deputy Minister Avtandil Meskhidze of making threats against him. TV reports on this issue did not result in any response either from the ministry or from any law enforcement agency.”

Transparency International Georgia​'s statement - http://bit.ly/1mHgOL9

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On 29 August 2015 Imedi TV issued the statement on suspension of political talk show and presenting them to the viewers in the new format in 2016.

Producers and journalists of these two programs – Reaktsia and Imedis Kvira – issued joint statement in the social network, saying that suspending commercially beneficial programs in the beginning of the TV season, 1 year before the election raised suspicions. The editors and an anchor Inga Grigolia stated that Imedi’s decision was a result of political influence.  Their suspicions are confirmed by the fact that the journalists learned about the decision of the programs’ closure from TV, despite the fact that the programs had their new preview for the new fall season already recorded.

Imedi TV made its own statement in response, claiming that the journalists’ comments were baseless.

Inga Grigolia spoke about the government’s interference in the editorial issues even before the closure of her program. 2015 In March 2015 she publicly stated that the parliamentary faction of the Georgian Dream demanded from Imedi editors not to cover in Reaktsia the protest rally planned by the opposition National Movement for 21 March. 

While speaking about the closure of Imedi programs with Rustavi 2 journalists, representative of the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority Gogi Topadze said, that the anchors had been warned a number of times and that nobody could be forgiven for partiality.

Gogi Topadze, Georgian Dream: “The channel began to only criticize and insult the government and of course they had to take some measures. They have been warned a number of times, that they should be impartial, I also told them this a number of times. Such partiality is unforgivable.”

Ten opposition parties outside the Parliament made a statement on the programs’ closure, stating that closure of commercially profitable programs with high ratings could not be logically explained. They called on the international community to “pay attention to the increasing manifestations of authoritarianism in Georgia” .

According to the TV ratings measurement company TVMR data for Georgia, the talk show Reaktsia was among the 10 best TV programs of the year in the ratings for 2014.

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Closure of political talk shows during the pre-election period has been assessed as problematic by the NGOs – Transparency International Georgia, ISFED and MDF.

Statement of Media Development Foundation - http://bit.ly/20YF3HA

Statement of Transparency International Georgia- http://bit.ly/1Sxqxlh

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy - http://bit.ly/249GodN

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On 19 July Tabula website photographer Alexander Giorgadze was arrested for alleged petty hooliganism and resistance to the police at the rally against Panorama Tbilisi.

According to the MIA, ten individuals were arrested during the rally against Panorama Tbilisi, near the Chancellery. Other 9 individuals were arrested for petty hooliganism. One of them was also accused on the basis of Article 45 – illegal use of small amount of drugs without doctor’s prescription.

Alexander Giorgadze was also arrested on 19 October 2014, at the protest rally near the house of the Prime Minister of Georgia. 

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According to the MIA, ten individuals were arrested during the rally against Panorama Tbilisi, near the Chancellery. Other 9 individuals were arrested for petty hooliganism. One of them was also accused on the basis of Article 45 – illegal use small amount of drugs without doctor’s prescription.

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On 18 July 2015 Tabula TV producer Lexo Machavariani was detained at the Stop Russia rally near the Chancellery, on the basis of Articles 166 and 173 of the Administrative Violations Code – petty hooliganism and resistance to the law enforcement officer.

According to the information disseminated by Tabula, Lexo Machavariani and other organizers of the rally were forced to move the car with the equipment required for the rally away from the spot of the rally. The footage of the incident shows that when being detained, Lexo Machavariani was not informed about the legal basis of his detention. The court decided to drop administrative case against Lexo Machavariani. 

On 22 July 2015 the Public Defender issued a statement saying that during the hearing the representatives of the law enforcement authorities brought Lexo Machavariani’s words “shameful police” as a supposed sign of petty hooliganism.  According to the Public Defender, with this the police excessively narrowed the margins of freedom of expression. 

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On 23 June Kvemo Kartli Information Center published the information that Azeri-language website renessans.ge received death threats after the publication of cartoon.

According to the information, the threats came from the chairman of Marneuli Imam Ali Charity Foundation Javid Gurbanov, who sent the following message to journalists Aida Tagieva, Aidan Yusibova and editor Nugzar Japarov:  „If you do not delete this cartoon, if you continue these insults, I swear by Allah that your blood will be spilled. I swear by God in whom you do not believe that I will take off your heads with my own hands. I am sure, your blood is more precious than the ink of your pen“. 

According to renessans.ge journalist Aida Tagieva, they published the cartoon depicting a cage broken by journalists who went out of it with books in their hands. According to her, the cartoon was taken by some people as depicting the mosque, which became the reason of the threat.

Renessans.ge journalists provided the media and law enforcement agencies with the letters they had received confirming the threats.

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The journalists addressed the police in June 2015. Isani-Samgori police division started to study the case. However, according to Aida Tagieva, this has not brought any result yet.

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The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics and the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has published the statements. They called on investigative bodies  to ensure fast, comprehensive and objective investigation on this case, as well as to ensure physical safety of the journalists

Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association - http://bit.ly/1RMQWuy

Statement of  Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics - http://bit.ly/1VL7fHa (Available in Georgian)

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In June 2015 personal pages of all administrators of the 13 June Volunteers Community Facebook group were simultaneously blocked, resulting in the abolishment of the group.

Ministry of Internal Affairs launched investigation into this incident. According to the Ministry’s information, the case was investigated by the Cyber Crime Division of the Criminal Police Department, on the basis of Article 284 of the Criminal Code, which regulates an unauthorized access to computer system.

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Ministry of Internal Affairs launched investigation into this incident. According to the Ministry’s information, the case was investigated by the Cyber Crime Division of the Criminal Police Department, on the basis of Article 284 of the Criminal Code, which regulates an unauthorized access to computer system.

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