Prosecutor's Office Formally Charges Gvaramia

The Prosecutor's Office has formally charged Nika Gvaramia, the former Director-general of the Rustavi 2 TV Company.

Gvaramia arrived at the Prosecutor’s Office this evening and left the investigative body after spending just 10 minutes there.

On leaving, Gvaramia said that there was nothing new in the accusations and that he links the ongoing investigation to the fact that soon the opposition-minded new TV company, the Main Channel, founded by him, will start operating.

He added that he does not exclude the possibility of his detention. However, he says that if he is arrested, the channel will continue with another director.

The deadline for Gvaramia to pay his 40 thousand GEL, as ordered by the Tbilisi City Court, is September 10, yet, he again stated today that he is not going to pay.

The statement on the filing of new charges against Gvaramia in the Rustavi 2 case was made at a briefing at the Prosecutor General's Office today.

“On the basis of the analysis of the evidence obtained in the course of the ongoing investigation, we are filing new charges against Nika Gvaramia – he is accused of a large-scale embezzlement of the property rights of Rustavi 2 broadcasting company, as well as of commercial bribery and production/use of counterfeit official documents, which caused significant damage”, a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office said at the briefing.

In addition to Nika Gvaramia, charges were filed against Kakha Damenia, the former financial director of the channel and Zurab Iashvili, director of Intermedia Plus.

Nika Gvaramia, Kakhaber Damenia and Zurab Iashvili have been summoned to the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia today regarding the new charges.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia will appeal to court with a motion to apply a measure of restraint.

Related Story: Gvaramia Denies New Accusations

By Ana Dumbadze