Ajara TV Director Dismissed by Board
Four out of five members of Ajara Public Broadcaster supported the impeachment of the Director Natia Kapanadze and dismissed her.
Within ten days the broadcaster will announce a competition to select a new director. Until then, Natia Zoidze, former deputy director, will serve as an acting director.
Kapanadze stressed that the board did not study the documents properly and made a hasty decision. She is going to appeal the decision and start a legal dispute.
On April 19, thirteen cameramen from the same TV Company went on a strike demanding a pay rise. They claimed the director and members of the advisory board were informed about the demand, but no action was taken.
However, the protesters stopped the strike as soon as Kapanadze was dismissed.
A complaint requesting Kapanadze’s impeachment was lodged with the board of advisors on April 10, by two board members – Giga Chkhartishvili and Irakli Dartsmelidze. They pointed to Kapanadze’s “disrespect of and miscommunication with the advisory board, as well as at financial mismanagement in the company.”
The decision of the board was slammed by the NGOs. They released a statement, expressing concern regarding the recent developments in the media company.
“We negatively assess the decision of Ajara Television and Radio Advisory Board to dismiss TV Director Natia Kapanadze. It is regrettable that the Advisory Board shared the controversial arguments of impeachment initiators and did not take into account the progress made by Natia Kapanadze during the directorship of the TV company, which is recognized by the international organizations, including the OSCE / ODIHR observation mission and Human Rights Watch reports,” the NGOs said.
The third sector believes that the recent developments will deteriorate the media environment and strengthen doubts about possible political interference.
Media Expert and the consultant of the director of Ajara TV, Zviad Koridze, said the decision of the board is orchestrated from outside and aims at interfering in the editorial process of the broadcaster.
Koridze said the board members did not even ask one question to the director while discussing her dismissal.
"These four people have harmed not Natia Kapanadze but the activities of an independent, balanced, and impartial broadcaster,” he stressed.
Another media expert, Lasha Tugushi also criticizes the board of Ajara TV for their decision. Tugushi believes that the recent developments are linked with the 2020 Parliamentary elections.
“I had an impression that it was a political process,” the expert said, adding the people who initiated Kapanadze’s impeachment are the representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party.
“Impeachment is a serious issue and it needs to be well-grounded…There are a lot of questions, especially regarding impartiality…I think this process is the part of the upcoming parliamentary elections,” Tugushi stressed.
Kapanadze was elected to the post in October 2016, and her three-year term was to expire in October 2019.
In 2018 the Tolerance Center of the Public Defender’s Office awarded Natia Kapanadze an award of tolerance, saying the television broadcasted and balanced well the issues of ethnic and religious minorities and promoted diversity.
Ajara TV was also positively assessed in the 2018 report of the Human Rights Watch Report and this year, OSCE/ODIHR final report mentioned that Ajara TV is the only broadcaster in the country that offered the audience a neutral comparison of the Presidential candidates in autumn 2018.
By Thea Morrison