Georgian Public Advocate appeals President to pardon head of Mtavari channel, says verdict “unfounded”

Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has appealed to the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili to pardon the head of the opposition-minded Mtavari channel, the United National Movement (UNM) former official Nika Gvaramia, saying in a statement released on Wednesday that the verdict delivered against the latter on May 16 of this year was “unfounded.” 

Gvaramia was convicted on charges of abuse of power while serving as director of Rustavi  TV. 

He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, and fined  50,000 Lari ($16,670).

Tbilisi City Court fined Gvaramia for “costing the broadcaster 6.8 million Lari ($2.2 million) in damages by negotiating an unfavorable advertising deal back in 2015.” 

The Georgian Public Defender’s Office published the results of the investigation into Gvaramia’s verdict today, saying that “that it is inadmissible to punish a manager for his decision when the court fails to substantiate his personal interest, fraud, sole decision, or other criminal action.” 

“Also, the validity of the use of the type and size of a particular sentence was completely unjustified. The court limited itself to one sentence in substantiating the type of sentence (deprivation of liberty) and did not indicate at all why the suspect was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and not for a longer or shorter period,” said the Public Defender’s Office. 

The statement said that the so-called money laundering episode was the only part of the sentence where the court reasoning contained references to international law.

‘It is noteworthy that in this episode the accused was acquitted. The court avoided answering all the important legal questions. Consequently, the verdict against Gvaramia, due to the extreme scarcity of legal reasoning, analysis and consistency, could be assessed as substantially unfounded,” said the public advocate. 

The opposition said that Gvaramia was “politically persecuted,” while the Georgian Dream authorities stated “everyone is equal before the law.”