Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics condemns “insulting of journalists” by ruling party figures

The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics called on the authorities on Tuesday to “stop encouraging violence, using sexist and discriminatory language”, reffering to insulting of the journalists of the opposition-minded channels by the ruling Georgian Dream party head, Irakli Kobakhidze, and the party MP Mamuka Mdinaradze.  

“On July 25, 2022,  Kobakhidze, the chairman of the Georgian Dream addressed Natashka Jakhutashvili, journalist of Mtavari channel with insulting phrases, including sexist language: “you have lost your face as a woman and clean your mouth”. Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling party, addressed the journalists with the following words: “you are, in my opinion, useful idiots of the Kremlin… you are at the bottom, you are no longer journalists.”

“The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics  condemns the government’s aggression against the journalist and notes that such attitude towards the journalist and the use of such discriminatory language are completely unacceptable on the part of the leaders of the ruling party,” said the statement.

The Charter stressed that “the absence of a safe environment for media representatives in the country is largely due to similar rhetoric.”

“It is important for the representative of the government to understand the role of the media in a democratic state and to take care of the safety of critical media journalists among them and treat them appropriately.” 

Mdinaradze responded that he was forced to “respond to an insulting wording by a journalist,” claiming that the journalist used the phrase: “you are a son of a FSB spy.” 

“Anyone who only gets angry about the answer is part of a dark sect following the trend [against the authorities] which, fortunately, is a small part of our public,” Mdinaradze said.