Rustavi 2 TV channel suspends broadcasting

Rustavi 2, a Tbilisi-based, private broadcasting company, announced the suspension of programming late last night.

A case concerning the ownership of the TV channel is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Deputy Director and Rustavi 2 anchor Zaal Udumashvili appeared on TV before midnight on February 17 and said the channel had chosen ‘the most extreme form of protest’ because ‘no other choice was left’ for them.

Udumashvili said Rustavi 2 was switching to ‘protest-mode broadcast’ and the channel would have its ‘voice heard through silence’.

He then called on viewers to attend a protest rally, scheduled for Sunday afternoon in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi.

Rustavi 2 went off air immediately after Udumashvili finished his address.

The Sunday protest rally was first announced by Rustavi 2 Director General Nika Gvaramia who said on February 14 that the court proceedings on Rustavi 2 case were coming to an end and people needed to take to the street to demand ‘fair justice’ and protect ‘freedom of speech’.

Agenda.ge asked Nino Japiashvili, board member of the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, to assess the form of protest Rustavi 2 has chosen.

Japiashvili believes that Rustavi 2’s decision to suspend broadcasting serves to convey three main messages:

• Calling for support of its viewers;
• Showing its viewers what life could be like without Rustavi 2;
• Stressing the importance of Sunday’s rally and showing that now is the critical moment for viewers to stand by the TV channel.

Japiashvili believes that the channel will resume broadcasting tomorrow, otherwise Rustavi 2 will have no other means to report on its rally.