Media managers meet US Ambassador to discuss Mtavari Arkhi channel founder sentencing
The channel representative also said he could not talk about details of the meeting, including comments made by the Ambassador, as the gathering had been held in a closed format.Photo: IPN.ge
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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.
Giorgi Gabunia, the Acting Director General of Mtavari Arkhi, said the talk had included the question of a release of Gvaramia from detention, and noted the media managers had “positive expectations” following the meeting with the US official.
The channel representative also said he could not talk about details of the meeting, including comments made by the Ambassador, as the gathering had been held in a closed format.
Gabunia said the media representatives had “a lot to say” to Degnan on the case, with the Court decision prompting Gvaramia’s supporters to allege political motivation in the sentencing of the opposition-minded channel’s founder.
Tbilisi City Court on Monday sentenced Gvaramia to three years and six months in prison on the charges relating to his time heading Rustavi 2. The sentencing follows 2020 charges against Gvaramia by the Prosecutor’s Office, with Kakha Damenia, the former Financial Director of Rustavi 2, and Zurab Iashvili, the Director of Inter Media Plus, also sought for indictment in the case.
The latter has been acquitted by the Court of commercial bribery and forgery in the case.
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.
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.
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.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said president Salome Zourabichvili would “insult” her office by pardoning Nika Gvaramia, the imprisoned head of the Mtavari Arkhi TV channel, following calls by opposition politicians for the move.