Pardon for convicted channel head would be “insult” to president’s office - ruling party head
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party said that the imprisoned head of the Mtavari Arkhi TV channel had insulted the president many times. Photo: Georgian Dream press office
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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.
Kobakhidze said “everyone remembers well” the convicted media figure - who also held high posts under the United National Movement government - “insulting the president for various reasons” on unspecified occasions.
Kobakhidze’s comment comes on the heels of the judgement of the Tbilisi court of appeals, which on Wednesday upheld the verdict of the Tbilisi city court against Gvaramia and kept him in imprisonment for charges of having caused damage through commercial deals to Rustavi 2 channel he led in 2015 and 2019.
Following the verdict, UNM MP Khatia Dekanoidze called on the president to “take responsibility” and pardon Gvaramia, saying his imprisonment could “hamper” the country’s European integration process.
The opposition lawmaker claimed one of the 12 conditions set by the European Commission for Georgia’s membership candidate status “concerns Gvaramia and media freedom”.
Tbilisi court of appeals of Wednesday upheld the verdict of Tbilisi city court against the head of the Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Nika Gvaramia, keeping him in custody for charges of abuse of power in 2015 and 2019, during his time at the helm of Rustavi 2 channel.
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.
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.
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.
Irakli Kobakidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the European Parliament resolution on the violations of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Georgia, adopted in June, was “politically biased” and sought a “specific interest”, after the Tbilisi court of appeals upheld a verdict against the head of a TV channel supported by a part of the domestic opposition.
The United States embassy in Tbilisi on Wednesday reiterated its “deep concern” over the judgement of the Tbilisi court of appeals which upheld the verdict of the Tbilisi city court against Nika Gvaramia, the imprisoned head of the Mtavari Arkhi TV channel, and kept him in imprisonment for charges of having caused damage through commercial deals to Rustavi 2 channel he led in 2015 and 2019.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the statement by United States embassy lamenting court decision keeping Mtavari Arkhi TV director in imprisonment meant the diplomatic office had “admitted for the first time” the channel was a “party media” for the opposition.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said the statement by the United States embassy that lamented this week’s court decision keeping Mtavari Arkhi TV director in imprisonment was a “direct interference” in the independence of the country’s judiciary.
Irakli Garibashvili, the Georgian Prime Minister, on Wednesday said the case involving Nika Gvaramia, the imprisoned head of the domestic Mtavari Arkhi channel who was convicted last year for improper commercial deals in 2015 and 2019 during his time at the helm of Rustavi 2 channel, was a matter of domestic courts and not the Government.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday pardoned Nika Gvaramia, the imprisoned head of the domestic Mtavari Arkhi channel, who was convicted last year for improper commercial deals in 2015 and 2019 during his time at the helm of the Rustavi 2 channel.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said calls for President Salome Zourabichvili to pardon Nika Gvaramia, the head of the Mtavari Arkhi TV channel, for the benefit of depolarising the domestic political environment meant the authors of the urges should now “take responsibility” for actually ensuring the outcome after the President pardoned the channel founder on Thursday.