Georgia

An Azeri journalist who was was investigating corruption within Azerbaijan’s first family will face prosecution in his native country after being kidnapped from Georgia’s capital.

On 25 December 2015, Irakli Kakabadze was arrested and injured during a peaceful demonstration protesting the appointment of Judge Levan Murusidze to the Appeals Court of Georgia’s High Council of Justice in Georgia.

In a recent joint statement, over a dozen news outlets and 20 Georgian media freedom and human rights groups said the bill “carries a risk of unreasonably restricting freedom of expression and stifling criticism.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its grave concern that broadcasting licenses and advertising contracts in Georgia are being unfairly awarded to organisations with close connections to government officials and members of political parties.

Reporters Without Borders underlines the urgency to depoliticize the appointments of the Georgian Public Broadcaster and guarantee the independence of the radio and TV stations it oversees.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the media polarisation and attacks on journalists that took place during the parliamentary elections campaign in Georgia.

Police have arrested at least 28 people on administrative charges in Georgia as protests have swelled in response to a prison abuse scandal.

A mission to assess freedom of the news media in Georgia concluded that the country is so polarised politically that journalistic impartiality is nearly impossible to maintain.

Viktor Lazic was detained on 3 September on the border between Georgia and South Ossetia and is now being held in solitary confinement.

IPI is concerned about the ambiguous circumstances surrounding the arrest of Irakli Gedenidze, Giorgi Abdaladze and Zurab Kurtsikidze, and calls on the government to lay out its evidence in a clear manner or release the photographers.

Journalists were verbally and physically attacked in the ensuing melee, cameras and video cameras were seized or destroyed and some reporters were arrested without justification.

Giorgy Popkhadze said that Georgian journalists and human rights activists had recently visited him, bringing materials on repression and killings in Georgia.

Journalist Vakhtang Komakhidze recently returned from South Ossetia where he was producing a documentary on the 2008 Russian-Georgian conflict.

When journalist Tedo Jorbenadze refused to divulge information about “Batumelebi” newspaper, law enforcers threatened to blackmail him.

Media groups are calling for an end to war propaganda and concrete actions to promote dialogue and confidence between Russian and Georgian journalists.

WAN-IFRA calls on the de facto president to ensure that the conviction of journalist Anton Kriveniuk is overturned and that libel is decriminalised.