Sen. Risch sees “political grounds” in sentencing of Georgian Mtavari channel head Gvaramia

Senator Jim Risch, a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has responded to the imprisonment of Nika Gvaramia, the founder of Mtavari Channel, and said that the latter  was arrested on “politically motivated charges.”

 

He stated that the silence of the political opposition would lead Georgia in a very disturbing direction.

 

 “The rule of law and a free press are essential for democracy,” Risch said late Monday.

 

Gvaramia, former education and justice minister of Georgia under the United National Movement government, who ran Rustavi 2 TV between 2012 and 2019, was accused of embezzling large amounts of property belonging to Rustavi 2, commercial bribery and forging official documents, legalizing illegal income by a group with a preliminary agreement and abuse of power back in 2020.

 

The judge of Tbilisi City Court found Gvaramia guilty of only abuse of authority on Monday, saying that Gvaramia’s activities in Rustavi 2 in 2019, prior to the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights on the Rustavi 2 ownership dispute, financially affected the channel.

 

The opposition and Gvaramia say that the verdict was “politically grounded,” while the ruling party responded that everyone was equal before the law.