Georgian Press on Ramishvili’s Arrest

On August 29 Georgian the press is actively covering the arrest of co-founder of 202 TV Shalva Ramishvili, who was accused by the police of extorting USD 100,000 from MP Koba Bekauri. While some newspapers tend to assess the arrest as “an attack on free media” others are more cautious in their comments.

The daily Rezonansi (Resonance) writes in an article under the headline “General Attack on the Free Media” that “one part of society thinks the arrest of Shalva Ramishvili was a provocation and considers it one more attempt of the government to exert pressure on the free media.”

“The independence of electronic media is not in the authorities’ interests. The government managed to silence a small, but highly independent media source [202 television],” Rezonansi says.

The daily 24 Saati (24 Hours) publishes a commentary by Eka Kvesitadze, a coordinator of the newly set up Media Council designed to monitor ethical reporting in the media. The author says: “Recently his [Shalva Ramishvili’s] political talk-shows have turned into a vehicle of voicing an opposition opinion. Maybe the government really wanted to silence Ramishvili’s program [the talk-show “Debates”] and if not for the footage shot by a hidden camera we all would have been overwhelmed by a sense protest and suspicion that this [arrest] is political persecution of a journalist.” Footage shot by a police hidden camera shows Ramishvili taking money from MP Koba Bekauri, the deputy chairman of the National Movement’s parliamentary faction, allegedly in return for not airing a compromising story about Bekauri.

24 Saati also says that the government should investigate MP Koba Bekauri’s activities, otherwise doubts will persist that the authorities aim only to silence unfavorable journalists and not fight corruption.

In another article, 24 Saati focuses on a “compromising story” against MP Bekauri. A group of journalists from “Reporter,” an organization which produces investigative journalism programs broadcasted by the 202 TV, were working on an investigation of MP Koba Bekauri’s alleged wrongdoings related to the customs terminal “Opiza.” This terminal, according to this investigative reporting, is owned by MP Bekauri and currently rented by the Georgian Customs Service.

In an interview with 24 Saati, Vakhtang Komakhidze, director of “Reporter,” said that the journalistic investigation was launched after it was found out that MP Bekauri’s assets have increased by 394,000 Lari (USD 218,800) since he became a parliamentarian.

“Bekauri has explained this fact by taking a loan – USD 150,000 – from an Israel-based Georgian businessman. The most important thing is that this is an interest-free loan. According to the law, an interest-free loan is same as a gift and public servants have the right to accept gifts only if the value thereof does not exceed 20 times the minimum cost of living. USD 150,000 is much more than that,” Komakhidze said in an interview with the paper.

“Moreover, MP Bekauri’s wife has purchased with this sum shares in the Opiza customs terminal. According to the law, a public servant does not have the right to participate in a private enterprise’s management. We have hidden camera footage [an interview with MP Bekauri] which reveals that Bekauri is actually directly engaged in the management of this enterprise,” Komakhidze said.

24 Saati also interviewed Bekauri, who admits that he really borrowed USD 150,000 and has “invested part of this money into purchasing shares of Opiza.”

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