EMC expresses solidarity with Adjara TV journalists
By Levan Abramishvili
Tuesday, December 10
The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to the events taking place in the Adjara Public Broadcaster and calls on the TV director to maintain the impartial editorial policy and effective protection of the rights and freedoms of journalists.
On November 22, 2019, the Adjara Broadcasting Advisory Board elected Giorgi Kokhreidze as the new director of the television. Kokhreidze was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) in 2014-2018 with Adjara quota. In 2005-2014 he was a director of TV Company "202" and a member of the Parliament of Georgia in 1999-2004.
With the appointment of a new director, there were signs of arbitrary intervention in the channel's independent editorial policy. Speaking to the anchor of the main news show on his first day as director Kokhreidze disliked the level of criticism of the channel and indicated that “guests should not be annoyed.”
On November 30, Natia Zoidze, Deputy Director of Broadcasting, said the new director threatened her. He instructed her specifically to stay away from the editorial policy, otherwise, she would face criminal prosecution. The journalists held a rally on December 4, calling for the director to refrain from unjustified accusations.
“Giorgi Kokhreidze's first move was directed at the editorial policy. Specifically, he urged his deputy Natia Zoidze, who is in charge of media editorial policy based on her agreement, to switch contract terms and stay away from editorial work. The new director accused all the editorial staff of building up the political agenda, being biased and "staging plays He told us that he had little faith in the conclusions drawn on our work by international organizations, including neither the OSCE nor the latest rankings,” said the journalists.
EMC's statement read that Adjara TV has become a highly trusted, objective channel that created "open platforms for disenfranchised groups and alternative political and civic ideas."
EMC calls the events following the appointment of a new director ‘alarming’ and requiring special attention from political and civic actors. “Any attempt to interfere with the independence of the Public Broadcaster and to restrict the freedom of journalists to do so is unacceptable,” says the NGO. With solidarity, EMC states that it’s ready to provide legal support to the journalists in the process of collective struggle for their labor rights and independence.
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has also addressed the issue. She met with the journalists of the Adjara Public Broadcaster, who spoke about certain cases, which suggested that critical broadcasting and editorial independence were at stake.
The Public Defender stated that she fully supported the policy of non-interference with the activities of journalists and editorial independence and that she would closely watch the developments.
“Interference in the work of journalists, especially through the methods and forms I was informed of, is unacceptable and these developments create an unhealthy environment at the Broadcaster,” said Lomjaria.
