Rustavi 2 anchor insults Putin on live show, gov’t calls step ‘dangerous provocation’ [VIDEO]
People, who are gathered at Rustavi 2 building now, are boycotting Rustavi 2, demanding an apology.
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Anchor of Georgian private broadcaster Rustavi 2 Giorgi Gabunia has insulted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his live show P.S. earlier today, using offensive language in Russian.
See what Gabunia said:
Top Georgian state figures have called the step a “very dangerous provocation.”
Rustavi 2 leadership has distanced itself from the statement, saying that they did not know about Gabunia’s intention.
Expressing a view in the way Gabunia did is absolutely unacceptable,” Rustavi 2 Director Nika Gvaramia said.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stated that the television message was a provocation “containing the greatest threat to peace and security of Georgia.”
Mamuka Bakhtadze wrote on his Twitter page:
What we have observed today on Rustavi 2 is nothing but a disgusting act of provocation and an attempt to destabilize our country. [This] is totally unacceptable!
— Mamuka Bakhtadze (@BakhtadzeMamuka) July 7, 2019
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili stated that the step taken by Gabunia carried threats to the country’s stability and security.
President Zurabishvili wrote on her Twitter page.
Georgia’s President unequivocally condemns hate speech, verbal aggression, insults and provacatory statements made today on @Rustavi2tv. They go against all Georgian traditions, serve only to divide and raise tensions in the country, with Russia and in the region.
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) July 7, 2019
Vice Parliament Speaker Tamar Chogoshvili called the statement “disgusting.”
Chugoshvili wrote a tweet.
Disgusting and provocative act at Rustavi 2 P.S. today. Another attempt of destabilizing country coming from destructive, radical forces.
— Tamar Chugoshvili (@ChugoshviliMP) July 7, 2019
Members of the opposition also disliked the statement.
However, member of the European Georgia opposition Sergi Kapanadze said that “cursing Rustavi 2 and calling it pro-Russian for Gabunia’s behavior is also wrong.”
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics says that the statement Gabunia made “harms both Rustavi 2 and the Georgian media,” decreases trust and respect to media outlets.
Part of the protests, who are now at the building of Rustavi 2, have thrown eggs to the building. Photo: IPN.
People are now gathering in front of the Rustavi 2 building, saying that the channel “unleashed war against state and created threats to the safety of each Georgian citizen.”
Gabunia’s statement comes amid street rallies in Georgia, which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in Georgia and an address of one of them from the seat of the Georgian parliamentary speaker on June 20.
Russian MP Evgeni Primakov calls for a ‘freeze’ on Russia-Georgia relations after an anchor of TV channel Rustavi 2 Giorgi Gabunia used offensive language against Russian President Vladimir Putin. He wrote that Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili condemned the journalist’s behavior, “however, we have not yet heard an apology.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called insults against Russian President Vladimir Putin by Georgian TV anchor Giorgi Gabunia “unacceptable,” but said that the Georgian government and people have responded to the event “in the right way.”
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has urged the Russian government not to respond to the provocations ‘staged by radical forces’ in Georgia, and not to ‘encourage their destructive goals to come true.’
A new opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi, which was established by Nika Gvaramia, the formed Director General of Rustavi 2 TV company, has new shareholders.
Russian citizen of Ingush origin Vasambeg Bokov has been detained in Tbilisi for the illegal purchase and possession of fake documents. Head of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Nika Gvaramia claims that the man was plotting to murder journalist Giorgi Gabunia for insulting Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.
The State Security Service of Georgia has announced earlier today that an investigation into the planned murder of journalist Giorgi Gabunia is underway. "Dissemination of any information, whether it is true or false, may damage the major public interest - to establish the objective truth, expose every individual involved in the crime and bring them to justice", it stated.
Georgian civil activists are holding a demonstration close to Vinotel Boutique Hotel where Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner and his friends have gathered on the eve of his birthday.
Ethnic Chechen-Russian citizen Beslan Iznaur who allegedly is linked to the plotting the murder of Georgian journalist Giorgi Gabunia, has been detained by law enforcers in Turkey on October 9, Radio Liberty’s Chechen service reports. The hit on Gabunia was likely put out after Gabunia verbally insulted Russian President Vladimir Putin on live television.