Court sentences 6 to up to 2 years in prison for attacking journalists at Tbilisi Pride counter-rally
Over 50 representatives of various media outlets were injured while covering the rally of right wing activists against the Tbilisi Pride march. Photo: IPN.
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Tbilisi City Court has sentenced six individuals to up to two years in prison for attacking journalists and camera professionals of Mtavari Arkhi, Formula TV and Imedi TV channels at a right-wing counter-rally organised against Tbilisi Pride march on July 5, 2021.
Giorgi Naskidashvili, Giorgi Kakhiani, Romeo Kakulia, Zaza Mchedlidze, Temur Kharauli and Ilia Kebadze were sentenced to sentences of varying duration, while Ushangi Datunashvili has been released on a 5,000 GEL (about €1,470/$1,618) bail after admitting the crime.
Despite a number of pieces of evidence presented by the State Prosecutor’s Office proving the violence against journalists on the date, none of the other offenders pleaded guilty, local media outlet Interpressnews reported.
Court sentences one to 2 years in prison for attacking cameraman at Tbilisi Pride counter-rally
Over 50 representatives of various media outlets were injured while covering the rally of right wing activists against the planned Tbilisi Pride march that was later cancelled due to the assaults on media.
Tbilisi City Court has sentenced Irakli Kavlashvili to two years in prison for attacking a Palitra News TV cameraman at a right-wing counter-rally organised against Tbilisi Pride on July 5 last year.
TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava, 36, was found dead at home this morning. Lashkarava was one of the 53 media representatives who were attacked by right-wing groups during the Tbilisi Pride counter rally on June 5.
A Palitranews cameraman who was attacked by right wing activists earlier today has undergone an operation at New Hospitals and is being taken to the med ward at this time. Head of the New Hospitals emergency service Mikheil Beriashvili said that the patient had a head injury and a broken nose.
Right wing activists who had gathered on Rustaveli Avenue this morning to protest the Tbilisi Pride march scheduled for 6 p.m. later today attacked journalists and cameramen on the spot, injuring dozens of media representatives. Among the injured media representatives there are eight from Rustavi 2, two journalists from TV Pirveli, and employees of On.ge, Tabula, Netgazeti, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other media outlets.
Tbilisi City Court has sentenced six individuals to five years in prison for attacking TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava and journalist Miranda Baghaturia, at a right-wing counter rally organised against Tbilisi Pride march on July 5, 2021.
Tbilisi City Court has sentenced seven individuals to a year in prison for attacking TV Pirveli cameraman Levan Bregvadze, Interpressnews agency photo reporter Giorgi Nikolishvili and one more individual at the right-wing counter rally organised against the Tbilisi Pride march on July 5, 2021.
Officers of the Special Investigation Service have arrested two individuals for their assault on a crew of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel in the western Georgian city of Zugdidi last month, Koka Katsitadze, the Head of the SIS, announced on Friday.
Sixteen media representatives - journalists, camera crews and photographers - who were attacked by far-right groups while covering Tbilisi Pride events last year have filed a lawsuit against the state in the European Court of Human Rights, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association said on Monday.
The Prosecutor General’s Office will appeal the Tbilisi Court of Appeals ruling that reduced sentences for six individuals charged with assaulting reporters covering the Tbilisi Pride march in Georgia’s capital in 2021.
The Georgian Interior Ministry launched an investigation into alleged illegal deprivation of liberty and violence against a former journalist Tatia Samkharadze by the United National Movement party’s member Dimitri Chikovani, the Public Broadcaster announced on Saturday.