Police raid independent newspaper
New York, July 20, 2004 – Financial police in the capital of Tbilisi raided the office of The Georgian Times after the independent weekly newspaper published a series of articles questioning how a prosecutor had acquired certain assets. On July 14, financial police “confiscated a year’s worth of accounting documents without a proper search warrant,”…
Journalists beaten at opposition rally
New York, May 4, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the Friday, April 30, attack on journalists covering an opposition rally in the city of Batumi, in the autonomous republic of Ajaria in southern Georgia. According to Alexi Tvaradze, a cameraman with the independent television station Rustavi-2, several police officers beat him with clubs…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Georgia
After 11 years in office, President Eduard Shevardnadze and his corruption-ridden government grew increasingly unpopular in 2003. Approval ratings plummeted, culminating in November elections marred by widespread fraud that discredited pro-Shevardnadze forces’ claim of victory. Facing escalating protests against the poll, the president resigned on November 23. New presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled for…
Journalist attacked
New York, March 5, 2004—Vakhtang Komakhidze, a reporter for the well-respected “60 Minutes” investigative journalism program on independent television station Rustavi-2 was brutally attacked today in the autonomous republic of Ajaria in southern Georgia. According to Akaki Gogichaishvili, the host of “60 Minutes,” Komakhidze had spent the last two weeks reporting in Ajaria and was…
CPJ Releases New Journalist Security Handbook
New York, October 29, 2003–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today released an updated version of its journalist security handbook, titled “On Assignment: A Guide to Reporting in Dangerous Situations.” This new edition, which is available in hard copy and online (read or download PDF), draws on lessons learned in the most recent war in…
Ataques y amenazas contra medios y periodistas, mientras la crisis política se intensifica
Nueva York, 17 de octubre del 2003–El Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ, por sus siglas en inglés) está sumamente alarmado por los ataques y amenazas contra medios de prensa y periodistas esta semana durante las masivas protestas antigubernamentales que amenazan con derrocar al gobierno boliviano. El miércoles 15 de octubre, atacantes no…
Suspect convicted in television journalist’s murder
New York, July 11, 2003—A Georgian court sentenced former police officer Grigol Khurtsilava on Wednesday, July 9, to a 13-year prison term for the July 2001 murder of popular television journalist Georgy Sanaya. Sanaya anchored “Night Courier,” a nightly political talk show on the independent television station Rustavi 2 in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. The journalist…