TV anchor who cursed Putin suspended for two months
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TV anchor of Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2, who cursed Russian President Vladimir Putin on his live show yesterday, has been suspended for two months.
Rustavi 2 reports that the broadcaster’s regulation body discussed Giorgi Gabunia’s words uttered in the beginning of his TV show ‘P.S.’ and suspended him for two months.
The suspension applies to all programmes he prepares or hosts, the TV channel reports.
Giorgi Gabunia used offensive language in Russian against Vladimir Putin that was followed by condemnations by Georgian officials and public figures.
See what Giorgi Gabunia said:
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said the television message was a provocation “containing the greatest threat to peace and security in Georgia.”
President Salome Zurabishvili also stated the message poses a threat to the stability of Georgia.
Later, demonstrators gathered in the vicinity of the Rustavi 2 broadcaster’s office, calling on the channel Director General Nika Gvaramia and TV anchor Giorgi Gabunia to resign.
The State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs has supported the idea of halting the import of wine and mineral waters from Georgia to the Russian Federation, as well as putting in place a ban on remittances from Russia, reports TASS.
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.”
Russia's Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing has announced a "strengthening of control" over alcoholic drinks imported from Georgia, in a move reminiscent of a 2006 embargo on wine from the country.
Peaceful demonstrators who have been holding protests in Tbilisi for 19 days already say they will not stop until Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigns. Today however they were unable to take up their traditional spot in front of the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue in downtown Tbilisi as a counter-protest had taken their place.
Flights between Georgia and Russia have been banned starting today following the recent decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ban on flights was announced after protesters in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi tried to storm the Georgian parliament on June 20 when a Russian MP addressed a forum of politicians at the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy from the speaker’s chair.
The Russian State Duma adopted a statement at a plenary session today, urging the government of Russia to impose tough economic sanctions on Georgia and halt the import of wine and mineral waters from Georgia to the Russian Federation and put in place a ban on remittances from Russia.
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and President Salome Zurabishvili have thanked the State Security Service for preventing a ‘very serious crime’ allegedly against well-known Georgian journalist Giorgi Gabunia which could have sparked tension and provocations in the country.
The Russian government’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says that allegations about plotting the murder of well-known Georgian journalist for insulting Putin is absurd.
Russian citizen has been sentenced to four years in prison in the case of Georgian Journalist Giorgi Gabunia who insulted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his live show during June 2019 protests in Tbilisi.