Your appeal may make the President of Georgia to take an important step for the country, to release an innocent person from prison

Non-governmental organizations and the media are writing a joint letter to European Council President Charles Michel and asking him to appeal to Salome Zurabishvili to pardon Nika Gvaramia:

Mr. Charles Michel
President of the European Council

Dear President Michel,
On November 2, 2022, the Court of Appeals of Georgia upheld the conviction of Nika Gvaramia, founder and director of independent TV channel Mtavari. It is our strong belief that this is a politically motivated case and charges against him are groundless, as it has been stipulated in the independent opinion presented to the Court by the Public Defender of Georgia and non-governmental organizations.
We believe that Nika Gvaramia is in prison only because of his vocal criticism of the government and his influence as an opinion-maker. It is also a fact that Mtavari and other TV companies are under constant attacks and pressure by the government.
We are confident that Nika Gvaramia’s politically motivated imprisonment is a serious obstacle on Georgia’s EU integration path. The resolution of the European Parliament on violations of media freedom and the safety of journalist in Georgia clearly condemned Nika Gvaramia’s imprisonment and called on genuine reforms.
Against the backdrop of grave challenges in judiciary and the Georgian Dream’s aggressive policy against critical media, we do not expect his rights to be defended in the Supreme Court of Georgia. We see Presidential pardon as the only remedy to end his unjust imprisonment. Several political and public groups have already addressed the President of Georgia with the request to pardon Nika Gvaramia.
President Michel, you are a staunch supporter of Georgia's democratic development, and we sincerely hope that your call on President Zurabishvili could encourage her to take this step, pardon director of critical broadcaster and simply release innocent man from prison. This would be not only a humane act, but also a significant action for the benefit of our country.
President Michel, we are confident that your engagement will be a major contribution to the freedom of the media in Georgia; moreover, it will empower Georgian people in its unequivocal aspirations towards Europe.