Vice Prime Minister: Mtavari Arkhi channel founder sentence means his actions no longer “presumed”
The Georgian official also commented on the recurring question of a possible pardoning of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, saying she was not expecting President Salome Zourabichvili to make an “unfair, unfounded” decision to pardon Saakashvili.Photo: 1TV.ge
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The verdict of the Tbilisi City Court, which this week sentenced Nika Gvaramia, the founder of Mtavari Arkhi channel, to three years and six months in prison, means the actions of the former Rustavi 2 channel Director are “no longer presumed,” Georgian Vice Prime Minister and Culture Minister Thea Tsulukiani said on Wednesday.
Tsulukiani was speaking on the sentencing of Gvaramia on the charges of causing a ₾6,763,509 ($2,239,572/€2,151,266) damage to Rustavi 2 between 2015-2019, with the former channel Director’s supporters and a part of the political opposition claiming political persecution in the verdict.
The Court decision also said the sentence “should be served not on probation but in prison,” Tsulukiani noted, adding Gvaramia had a constitutional right to appeal, which he was expected to use.
“He was able to embezzle up to seven million lari in property rights in favour of the company he founded, and his own interests. If this is not a crime, then I do not know what is,” Tsulukiani added.
The Georgian official also commented on the recurring question of a possible pardoning of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, saying she was not expecting President Salome Zourabichvili to make an “unfair, unfounded” decision to pardon Saakashvili.
Zourabichvili has previously said she will not offer a pardon to the former President, who had been found guilty of abuse of power in two cases in absentia in 2018, and was arrested following his clandestine return to Georgia last year. Saakasvili faces additional charges including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal and illegal border crossing.
United States Ambassador Kelly Degnan on Monday stressed the importance of citizen “confidence” in the absence of “selective prosecution” after Tbilisi City Court sentenced Mtavari Arkhi channel founder Nika Gvaramia for abuse of powers related to his time at the helm of Rustavi 2 channel earlier during the day.
The judiciary in Georgia is independent of political processes and court decisions bear no political impact, Levan Davitashvili, the Georgian Economy Minister and Vice Prime Minister, said on Monday following claims by supporters of Nika Gvaramia, the former Rustavi 2 channel Director, of persecution following his sentencing by Tbilisi City Court for abuse of powers.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has said it will appeal the Tbilisi City Court’s decision to change the qualification in its sentencing of Nika Gvaramia, the founder of the Mtavari Arkhi channel and former General Director of the Rustavi 2 channel, after the delivery of the verdict on Monday.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chairman of the Georgian Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, on Monday rejected claims of political persecution in the sentencing of Nika Gvaramia, the founder of Mtavari Arkhi channel and former Director of Rustavi 2 channel, by the Tbilisi City Court on charges of embezzlement, commercial bribery, forgery and money laundering.
A discussion of the sentencing of Nika Gvaramia, the founder of Mtavari Arkhi channel and former Director of Rustavi 2, by Tbilisi City Court was held in a meeting between the United States Ambassador Kelly Degnan and representatives of Georgian media outlets on Wednesday.
Reporters and media managers of various media outlets held a rally in support of Nika Gvaramia, the founder of Mtavari Arkhi channel, who was sentenced to three years and six months in prison by Tbilisi City Court on Tuesday.
Nino Lomjaria, the Public Defender of Georgia, has addressed President Salome Zourabichvili with a request to exercise her power to pardon Nika Gvaramia, the Director General of Mtavari Arkhi TV channel who was sentenced to over three years in prison for abuse of powers last month.
Tbilisi City Court Judge Lasha Chkhikvadze on Friday called on political parties, diplomatic corps, international and non-governmental organisations in Georgia to refrain from “putting pressure” on the Georgian court and allow judges to administer justice in a “peaceful environment”.
Kelly Degnan, the United States Ambassador to Georgia, on Friday said any suggestion of the US interfering in the judicial process in Georgia was “simply not true”.