On April 26, Teona Bakuridze, the former anchor of the main news program at Adjara TV, Batumi based public broadcaster, reported that the Kutaisi Court of Appeals had recognized as invalid the order of the former director of the TV station, Giorgi Kokhreidze, to dismiss her.
Teona Bakuridze, a vocal-critic of the channel’s former management, was fired in March 2020. In the order of dismissal Kokhreidze accused her of “gravely violating” the broadcaster’s internal regulations, namely of assaulting acting head of newsroom Giorgi Abazadze, and hindering the latter from performing his official duties. Ahead of her dismissal, Teona Bakuridze was temporary dismissed, allegedly due to her disobedience, failure to perform her official duties and putting pressure on Abazadze.
Bakuridze wrote on her Facebook page: “The system we were up against knew even then that it was illegal to release me, but they needed the time they had won – four years… We knew even then that the main goal of the [Georgian] Dream Government was to change the editorial policy of Adjara Television. You can look at any single programme and see for yourself.” She also noted that despite the failure of the case in the first instance court, she is “glad that there are honest judges too in the system.”
The journalists noted that the court ordered the TV station to pay her compensation equal to her previous six months’ salary, but it didn’t satisfy the discrimination part of the lawsuit, which Bakuridze says she will continue to contest.
Also Read:
- 13/07/2023 – Former “Rustavi 2” Journalists Win Court Case Against the TV Channel
- 23/05/2023 – Former Anchor Wins Legal Dispute with Rustavi 2 TV
- 17/05/2023 – Court Upholds Decision Ordering Journalist to Pay Fine to Rustavi 2 TV
- 04/05/2022 – Court Rules 2019 Dismissal of Rustavi 2 TV Employees Unlawful
- 09/03/2020 – Acting, Dismissed Adjara TV Journalists to Start Legal Dispute
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