Defense Ministry Says Didn’t Demand Freezing Formula TV Assets
The Defense Ministry said today it does not intend to demand freezing Formula TV assets, after it announced earlier in the day plans to file a lawsuit against the network’s majority shareholder, former Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili.
Kezerashvili, United National Movement-era official, was sentenced in absentia on September 7 by the Supreme Court in the case of embezzling over EUR 5 million from the Defense Ministry. The Ministry now seeks compensation.
The Defense Ministry added that there are no prospects to secure the compensation by freezing the channel’s assets anyways, as “David Kezerashvili has not received dividends from the said television network over the years.”
The Ministry claimed that Kezerashvili, with funds “seized” from the Georgian budget, finances companies which “carry out activities that are damaging to the state.”
But, the Defense Ministry stated it understands the importance of democratic values and freedom of speech for Georgia’s European integration.
The statement came after Kezerashvili’s lawyer Giorgi Gelkhauri suggested the Ministry would attempt to freeze the assets of Formula TV, and the channel’s director Zuka Gumbaridze argued the lawsuit for compensation was “part of a campaign against critical media.”
In a press briefing, Gumbaridze linked the lawsuit to the Formula TV-commissioned public opinion polls that showed the ruling Georgian Dream party would not receive 43% of votes in the October 2 local polls. Gumbaridze accused the authorities of attacking the channel and its founder “with an accelerated pace.”
He said that Formula TV management has communicated with Edison Research, which carries out fieldwork for the channel’s polls, and stressed that the company’s exit polls will be published “no matter how events develop.”
Gumbaridze also recalled the court cases of Nika Gvaramia and Avtandil Tsereteli, director-general of Mtavari Arkhi and father of TV Pirveli founder, respectively, saying that in case of undesirable results on October 2, the government will try to suspend all three critical TV channels.
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