The Media Freedom Foundation has been set up to raise funds for the opposition-minded Mtavari channel in the wake of the recent arrest of the head of the media outlet, former United National Movement (UNM) official, Nika Gvaramia on abuse of power charges while managing Rustavi 2 TV channel. 

Acting director of Mtavari channel Giorgi Gabunia suggested that Mtavari was facing financial problems and that the “major goal of the Georgian Dream authorities is to shut down the channel.” 

Gvaramia said late on Thursday that the founder of Rustavi 2 channel David Dvali, who said that the channel was illegally seized from him by the UNM authorities back in 2004, was the first who transferred 10,000 GEL to the foundation. 

“Dvali can not be blamed for his friendship neither with Gvaramia nor with the UNM,” Gabunia said, pointing at “political grounds” in Gvaramia’s arrest and the “importance of the freedom of media.” 

Gabunia said that any citizen can transfer any amount of money to the Media Freedom Foundation (https://mtavari.tv/news/85902-mediis-tavisuplebis-pondi-mtavari-arkhis). 

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia said earlier this week that Gvaramia inflicted more than two million dollars  in financial damage to Rustavi 2 TV between 2015 and 2019, prior to the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights on the ownership dispute of the channel. 

Gvaramia was dismissed from the position of the director general of Rustavi 2  shortly after the European Court returned 100 percent of shares to the media outlet’s previous owner Kibar Khalvashi in 2019.

Gvaramia, who chaired Rustavi 2 between 2012 and 2019, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison on May 16.