EU ambassador: it’s up to Georgian president whether to pardon TV channel head

Pawel Herczynski, the European Union ambassador to Georgia, on Monday said it was up to the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili whether she pardoned Nika Gvaramia, the convicted head of the opposition-minded Mtavari channel. 

 

Gvaramia was convicted last year on charges of abuse of power during his time at the helm of another domestic Rustavi 2 channel between  2015 and 2019,

 

“We all know that pardoning prisoners is the president’s constitutional right. I cannot make any other comments. You know that one of the 12 conditions[of the EU] is to protect the freedom of the media, because freedom of speech and expression is one of the principles on which the bloc is based. We are following these and other cases very closely”, said the diplomat. 

 

The EU outlined 12 conditions last year for granting its membership candidate status to Georgia. 

 

The bloc has been scheduled to decide on the country’s status by the end of this year, following Georgia’s official application for membership in March 2022.