On January 20, 2020, TV Channel Mtavari Arkhi spread the news that in the yard of the Tbilisi City Court several persons attacked and physically assaulted director of the channel Nika Gvaramia.
Nika Gvaramia was representing Giorgi Rurua, one of the founders of the TV channel in the court. The court hearing of Nika Gvaramia’s case was scheduled the same day. As a result of the incident Nika Gvaramia was injured, however, it is not still clear whether the witnesses of the incident were questioned or if any further investigation procedures were carried out.
Media Advocacy Coalition calls on law enforcement agencies to conduct a timely, comprehensive, efficient and impartial investigation into this particular incident.
The Coalition also considers it important to timely identify and prosecute the perpetrators to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The frequent verbal aggression against critical media instigates violence and leads to physical attacks on media representatives. We urge senior officials to put the issues of journalists’ security and media freedom to their political agenda.
The coalition will closely follow the developments around the case and provide information to the public. “