Parliament may revise accreditation rules after EP suspends three Georgian broadcasters, Speaker Papuashvili

The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, has claimed that the European Parliament applies stricter media accreditation rules than Georgia’s legislature, following the suspension of several Georgian television channels from the European institution.

The European Parliament recently suspended accreditation for one year for Georgian broadcasters Imedi TV, Rustavi 2 and POSTV.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Papuashvili said the Georgian authorities had reviewed the European Parliament’s accreditation rules and found them to be “much stricter” than those currently enforced in Georgia.

He added journalists in the European Parliament are required to obtain prior consent from respondents before conducting interviews, while in the Georgian parliament reporters are allowed to begin interviews unless the respondent explicitly asks them to stop.

He also pointed to differences in sanctions for accreditation violations. Papuashvili said the Georgian parliament currently imposes a one-month suspension for a first violation and six months for repeated breaches, whereas the European Parliament imposed a one-year suspension on the three Georgian broadcasters.

The parliament speaker said he would consider whether Georgia should introduce similar rules.

“I will think about whether corresponding changes should be introduced into the accreditation rules,” Papuashvili said.

He also accused Brussels-based institutions, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia and several non-governmental organisations of hypocrisy over criticism previously directed at the Georgian parliament’s media regulations.

Papuashvili claimed that NGOs and media advocacy groups funded by European institutions had unfairly criticised Georgia’s parliament over accreditation rules which, he argued, were less restrictive than those used by the European Parliament itself.