TV channel Imedi refuses to air political ad of opposition European Georgia party
Based on a survey released by the International Republican Institute (IRI), 32 per cent of Georgians trust the TV channel Imedi. Photo: imedinews.ge.
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Georgian TV channel Imedi has refused to air a political advertisement of opposition party European Georgia in the run up to the October 2 elections due to alleged ‘hate speech content.’
European Georgia won five of 60 opposition seats in the Georgian parliament in the October 2020 elections.
The clip accuses government officials of corruption and calls on the public to notify the party for assistance if they know of corrupt dealings.
Imedi refuses to broadcast pre-election political advertisements with hate speech regardless of political party affiliation,” Imedi said in a statement.
The party’s leader Giga Bokeria stated that Imedi’s decision is a ‘gross violation of the law and has no basis in the legislation,’ noting that TV channels both critical of and loyal to the ruling party are obliged to air video clips even if they are critical of the government.
Bokeria noted that this is not the first time when TV channel Imedi has refused to broadcast one of their campaign ads.
They did the same during the previous campaign (parliamentary elections 2020) and the regulatory commission ruled that Imedi was violating the law when the election campaign was over,” Bokeria stated.
TV channel Imedi was founded by deceased tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili in the early 2000s and was raided by police in 2007, when he was stripped of ownership of the channel. Imedi was returned to the deceased tycoon’s family after the elections of 2012 when the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party replaced the United National Movement (UNM) party.
Today the owner of the TV company is asset management firm Hunnewell Partners, the founding partner of which is Irakli Rukhadze, Imedi’s supervisory board chairman.
Based on a survey released by the International Republican Institute (IRI), 32 per cent of Georgians trust the TV channel Imedi.
Hunnewell Partners, an asset management and recovery firm, will purchase the local TV channel Imedi after the Communications Commission of Georgia gave its consent on the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Georgian Media Production Group, which holds local TV channels Imedi, GDS and Radio Imedi.
The largest opposition party United National Movement (UNM) and the opposition European Georgia party have presented additional mayoral candidates for the upcoming October 2 municipal race.
Georgian Media Production Group, which holds local TV channels Imedi, GDS and Radio Imedi is for sale. The Communications Commission of Georgia has already discussed the issue at today's meeting and gave its consent on the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Georgian Media Production Group.
Four opposition parties, the United National Movement (UNM), Droa, Girchi-More Freedom and European Georgia have presented joint majoritarian candidates for Tbilisi City Assembly ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.
Local TV channel Imedi has responded to former Georgian PM and Tbilisi mayor candidate Giorgi Gakharia’s accusations that the channel has political bias and has thus refused to air him live in the run up to the October 2 municipal elections. Imedi pointed out an alleged connection between the current opposition United National Movement (UNM) party which governed the country from 2004 to 2012 and Giorgi Gakharia who left the post of PM on February 18, 2021 due to a disagreement with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and launched the For Georgia political party in late May.
Communications Commission (ComCom), a regulatory body responsible for broadcasting and electronic communication, has satisfied the complaint of the opposition European Georgia party against Imedi TV.
Georgian TV channel Imedi, which has refused to air a political advertisement of the opposition party European Georgia in the run up to the October 2 elections, has been fined with GEL 5,000.