CoE Platform for Safety and Security of Journalists: Alert on Georgia
The new alert on Georgia has been posted today on the Council of Europe’s platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists.
The alert was initiated by the Council of Europe’s partner organization Committee to Protect Journalists. The level of the alert is 1 (the highest), as it concerns an attack on the safety and security of journalists. No reply from the Georgian state has so far been received.
At Least 5 Journalists Attacked, Beaten in Run-Up to Parliamentary Elections
Both Mtavari Channel and Pirveli Arkhi had sent film crews to Marneuli to investigate physical altercations between local representatives of the ruling party Georgian Dream and the opposition party United National Movement. According to Mtavari Channel director and lawyer Tamta Muradashvili, the Mtavari Channel crew had just finished filming ongoing clashes outside of the Georgian Dream office when a group of five or six people approached the journalists and began to beat them. The attackers punched correspondent Jeikhun Muhamedali and slammed his head against a tree, causing him to lose consciousness. He was hospitalized and later discharged, though his arm is in a cast and he suffers from stomach pain. Correspondent Bacho Turashvili, cameraman Lasha Gureshidze, and his assistant Nika Darchia were also attacked, and Gureshidze’s equipment was broken. Correspondent Jeikhun Muhamedali was attacked later while reporting.
Pirveli Arkhi correspondent Rusudan Loladze told CPJ that she and cameraman Zaza Baramidze were on their way to report on clashes in the same area. While she stayed in the car, Baramidze got out and began to film the fighting when several people attacked him, breaking his camera. It is unclear if Baramidze was attacked by the same people who carried out the attack on the Mtavari Channel crew. The journalists from both TV companies filed complaints with the police, but so far, no arrests have been made. CPJ contacted Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, which oversees the police, and Marneuli city hall for comment but did not receive a response.
Georgian Interior Ministry said police are leading an investigation under Articles 126 and 154, involving unlawful interference with the journalist’s professional activities.
The ruling party Georgian Dream released a statement on the Marneuli incidents, not referring to the acts of physical violence against journalists. The ruling party stated that drunk opposition United National Movement activists verbally and physically assaulted their supporters near the Georgian Dream Office, which led to a confrontation.