Prepared by Messenger Staff
Kakha Kaladze Defends Police, Criticizes Imprisoned Journalist Mzia Amaglobeli
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has commented on the imprisonment of Mzia Amaglobeli, the founder and director of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, stating that he has "not even heard any regret" from her regarding the incident.
"I would like to wish everyone good health, including Ms. Mzia Amaglobeli and any prisoner, but I have a question: why is she detained? Attacking and hitting a police officer is categorically unacceptable. We are human beings, we can all make mistakes, we are ordinary people and we have all made mistakes," Kaladze said.
He continued by emphasizing that Amaglobeli's actions constitute a crime. "A person committed a crime-isn't it a crime when you hit a police officer? I don't remember, I haven't heard (and I'm sure no one has) in so long, even a hint of regret, even if she came out and said humanely that 'I made a mistake, and please forgive me'."
Kaladze also expressed support for the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) employees and praised Irakli Dgebuadze, the officer involved in Amaglobeli's case. "I thank the MIA employees, and I call Irakli Dgebuadze a dignified police officer," he stated.
However, according to the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA), Dgebuadze verbally abused Amaglobeli after her arrest and attempted to physically assault her multiple times while she was in custody.
Media Advocacy Coalition Criticizes Public Broadcaster for Bias
The Media Advocacy Coalition has issued a statement accusing the Public Broadcaster of blatantly violating both Georgian legislation and leading international standards regarding independent editorial policy, accountability, and media pluralism.
According to the statement, the broadcaster, "which is clearly under the influence of the Georgian Dream," fails to provide objective and comprehensive coverage of current events in the country.
"The biased activities of the Public Broadcaster are especially alarming today, when the country is undergoing crucial political processes," the statement reads. "Across the country, the population is holding continuous protests against the Georgian Dream's rigged elections, torture, mass violence, including actions against media representatives and political prisoners."
The coalition argues that during this critical period, the broadcaster's information policy "deliberately ignores coverage of events important to society and clearly demonstrates a clear bias towards the Georgian Dream."
