Georgian PM, president: country foiled ‘very serious’ plot against well-known journalist
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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.
Russian citizen of Ingush origin Vasambeg Bokov was detained in Tbilisi on Friday for the illegal purchase and possession of fake documents.
Head of opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Nika Gvaramia said that the man was plotting to murder journalist Giorgi Gabunia for insulting Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.
PM Gakharia says that the case could be used for political speculations. Photo: Prime Minister's press office.
Gvaramia claims that the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, placed the hit on the journalist.
The investigation is ongoing.
A serious crime was prevented in Georgia. Everyone will try to use the issue for their narrow, political interests as it is an election period in the country. It is important for our law enforcers to investigate the case quickly to provide the public with the details of the case,” stated Gakharia.
He urged people to wait for the conclusion of the investigation.
President Zurabishvili praised the professionalism of the State Security Service for the prevention of ‘attempted murder’ which was targeted not only against a journalist but also against the country’s stability.
We realise that the case is criminal provocation against state stability,” Zurabishvili said.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that plotting to murder a journalist is ‘absolutely unacceptable and it should be quickly revealed ‘who was interested in Georgia’s international discreditation.’
Kadyrov has called the accusations ‘stupid,’ saying that when he ‘orders something, it is always done.’
He stated that Gabunia must ask for forgiveness as ‘he insulted the Russian nation, not only the president’ and urged the Georgian government to take measures which will help ‘re-educate the so-called journalist.’
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.
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 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.”
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 government’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says that allegations about plotting the murder of well-known Georgian journalist for insulting Putin is absurd.
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.
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.