TI Georgia: Gvaramia’s imprisonment “politically grounded”

Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) says that the recent imprisonment of the head of the opposition-minded Matavari channel Nika Gvaramia is “politically grounded.” 

Tbilisi City Court delivered a guilty verdict against Gvaramia and his associates on Monday. The judge found Gvaramia guilty of abuse of power and sentenced him to three years and six months in prison.

 

“Based on the study of the case materials and observation of the court process, we can conclude that the case is politically motivated. It aims to punish Nika Gvaramia and disrupt the activities of a critical media outlet. The use of the justice system for media censorship and intimidation sends a clear message to other critical media outlets as well. This verdict is a continuation of the political persecution that has been waged against the Government’s opponents for years,” TI Georgia stated today. 

 

TI Georgia suggested that the “politicization of the justice system has been “one of the main challenges for the country and an obstacle to European integration.” 

 

“It is hard to imagine, given Georgia’s application for EU membership, that the government has not anticipated the damaging effect that its recent rhetoric, deteriorating media environment and actions against critical media outlets could have made. The consequences that such actions can bring to the international arena of Georgia are completely the responsibility of the Government of Georgia,” said the organization. 

 

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.