Mtavari Arkhi founder Gvaramia receives International Press Freedom Award in New York.

The founder of the Georgian opposition-minded Mtavari channel Nika Gvaramia, who was pardoned by President Salome Zourabichvili earlier this year, has become the first Georgian journalist receiving the International Press Freedom Award in New York.  At the CPJ award ceremony, Gvaramia said he “firmly refuses to choose between motherland and freedom”, and chose both together and intended to continue his struggle for the goal. 

In his comments, Gvaramia, a former high-ranking official under the United National Movement Government, also claimed he had been jailed for his work. 

Gvaramia was  convicted last year for abuse of power while chairing Rustavi 2 TV channel. 

The Georgian Dream authorities claimed it was a “legal case” and “no one in the country is above the law”, also accusing him of affiliation with the “radical wing” of the domestic opposition.