Rustavi 2 TV Director General physically abused
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, January 10
The Director General of Rustavi 2 TV, Nika Gvaramia, was physically abused in a restaurant of central Tbilisi, as he was having dinner with friends after his father’s funeral.
The incident happened on Saturday evening, and as Gvaramiaexplained he and his friends were attacked unexpectedly, when the lights went out in the Dining Room restaurant.
“The lights went out and we were preparing to leave, when we were unexpectedly attacked in the dark…I did not manage to react and did not understand what was happening,” Gvaramia’s post reads.
After the incident, Gvaramia called the police and reported the assault. Then he was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain concussion. He refused to stay in hospital and said he would undergo proper treatment at home.
Soon after the incident the police detained Rati Gachechiladze, the son of a former opposition leader, Levan Gachechiladze, who before the arrest admitted in his Facebook post that he assaulted Gvaramia.
“This was my reaction to the physical and moral abuse that my family and I have suffered in the last years from Gvaramia and not only from him,” Gachechiladze’s post reads.
The detained, 30, also stated that he alone abused Rustavi 2 Director and did not know anything about the death of Gvaramia’s father.
However, Gvaramia insists that his abuser was not acting alone and this was a group-assault.
Gvaramia has been the Director General of Rustavi 2 since November 2012. Before that he served as the Minister of Science and Education and as the Justice Minister. He also used to be Deputy Prosecutor General in 2007.
As for Levan Gachechiladze, the detainee’s father, he was a presidential candidate in 2008 presidential elections in which he came second after ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
In his interview with Rustavi 2, Levan Gachechiladze said his son could not help himself when he saw Gvaramia, because the latter “had done much evil to his family and friends”.
“Why did they arrest my son? Just for hitting someone? It is difficult to control one’s emotions after all the evil Gvaramia has done to my family and friends,” Gachechiladze stressed.
The investigation is underway under article 126 of criminal code of Georgia, which pertains to beating or other violence that led to victim's physical or mental suffering. This action is punishable by imprisonment from one to three years.
As many in the country believe, Levan Gachehiladze won the elections but the results were falsified.
