Court Finds Dismissal of Adjara TV Host Illegal

On April 27, the Batumi City Court found illegal the decision by the Adjara TV and Radio Company to dismiss Malkhaz Rekhviashvili, host of the talk show “Hashtag,” after he made critical remarks about the broadcaster’s new management.

The Social Justice Center, a local human rights watchdog that defended Rekhviashvili’s interests in court, clarified that the court rejected Rekhviashvili’s request for reinstatement because the talk show “Hashtag” was closed several months ago. Instead, the court ordered the broadcaster to pay Rekhviashvili a compensation of GEL 5,000.

According to the Social Justice Center, the court shared the defense’s arguments that the management’s decision to dismiss Rekhviashvili violated his labor rights and freedom of expression.

“The decision is an important precedent and strengthens the protection of labor rights, freedom of expression, inadmissibility of interference in journalistic activities, emphasizes the essential importance of the professional independence of journalists on the way to establishing a democratic and legal state,”- the organization said in a statement.

In response to the court decision, Malkhaz Rekhviashvili wrote on Facebook that the compensation imposed on the broadcaster was “unfairly low,” but that he did not plan to challenge it. “My goal of proving that I was illegally dismissed has been achieved,” he said.

Malkhaz Rekhviashvili was dismissed from Adjara TV on May 11, 2020. Later he wrote on his Facebook page that he was fired because of his Facebook post that he published on April 21, in response to the director’s “unfair and groundless disciplinary persecution” of Teona Turmanidze, the anchor of Adjara TV’s news program.

Also Read:

• 25/07/2022 – Court Partly Satisfies Former Adjara TV Head in Dismissal Case
• 02/09/2020 – Public Defender Addresses UN, OSCE Representatives Regarding Adjara TV
• 06/08/2020 – Three Dismissed Employees Reinstated in Adjara TV, Albeit on Other Positions  
• 31/07/2020  – CSOs Criticize Continued Dismissals in Adjara TV
• 27/06/2020  – Journalists, Activists Rally outside Adjara TV
• 05/06/2020  – Media Advocacy Coalition: Adjara TV Continues to Persecute Journalists

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