Saakashvili Justifies Attack on Russian Journalists Citing ‘Sense of National Pride’
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on November 20 that an attack on a team of Russian journalists by local residents of the Napareuli village – in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti – in September was, as he put it, ?an expression of national pride? by the local villagers.
A team from the Russian NTV news channel was traveling in the Kakheti region in an attempt to interview local Georgian villagers about their opinion regarding the erotic movie ?Yulia,? which parodies Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko. The movie was shot under the sponsorship of the Russian ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, led by MP Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
In the village of Naparaeuli local residents, including the local Gamgebeli (Head) of the village, started insulting the journalists after they asked the locals to express their opinion about the movie. Some locals also damaged the video camera of the TV crew.
Saakashvili commented on this incident during a live televised address to the nation late on November 20, on the eve of the second anniversary of the Rose Revolution. He mentioned that this incident was an ?example? of a ?sense of national pride? among the common Georgian citizens, which has increased – a major achievement of the Rose Revolution according to the President.
He said that those ?so called? journalists thought that they could ?tape on video how Georgians hail the humiliation of their national pride? after showing a movie, ?which insults not only the President, but humiliates the Georgian national pride as well.?
?But all of Georgia, as well as Russia, has seen what kind of response they [the Russian journalists] received from the Napareuli villagers, who, by the way, are well-known by their hospitality. The residents of Napareuli have this sense of national pride and they responded appropriately,? Saakashvili said.
Two days after the incident, the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi issued a statement on September 5 demanding that the Georgian authorities take immediate steps to punish those guilty and compensate those affected for moral damage and material losses.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
