The media had to work in a difficult environment during the pre-election period. In addition to the daily pressure, there was a belief that the government was still carrying out covert surveillance. On October 29, the Open Society Foundation responded to the comments of Irakli Kobakhidze on the conversation between the TV Pirveli journalist Nato Gogelia and the representative of the United National Movement, and spoke about the attitude of the government towards the media.
“I am not surprised by the government’s attitude towards the critical media. The same goes for NGOs. Perhaps it should be noted once again that when the current member of the National Movement sponsored the National Movement or worked as its activist, we were immediately critical as well. We and the non-governmental sector and the media. Today we should also recall that Nato Gogelia is one of those who were injured during the May 26, 2011 raid.
The fact that the political leaders treat media so badly is disturbing. In fact, they encourage local government officials, law enforcement, to treat it even worse, especially given that no investigations are carried out following the crimes against the media and this continues. It is unfortunate that while the Georgian people change the government regularly, we have not been able to fully change the behavior of the government. ” – Keti Khutsishvili, Executive Director of the Open Society Georgia Foundation