"Shameful slander and distortion of facts" - "Dream" on Charter statement

Georgian Dream responds to the statement of the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, according to which the government should not encourage attacks on the media.

The statement says that in his speech on July 20, Kakha Kaladze spoke about the forms of violence and did not encourage violence.

We would like to respond to the statement of the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, a non-governmental organization, according to which Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze allegedly compared the media activities to the violent actions of July 5. This statement is a shameful slander and distortion of facts.

"We  would like to clarify  that in his speech on July 20, Kakha Kaladze spoke about the forms of violence and noted that "psychological violence is no less evil than physical violence, which, unfortunately, is taking place in our society."
According to Kakha Kaladze, this social  problem is also reflected on TV. In particular, he noted that "we often hear people from different TV channels being humiliated, slandered, bullied just because of different political or other reasons."

It is clear that the Charter statement serves to misinform the public and is a slander. It should also be noted that the same statement of the Charter of Journalistic Ethics expresses concern over the aggressive rhetoric and attitude of politicians towards the media.

We demand an explanation on the basis of which the organization saw aggressive rhetoric in the statement made by Kakha Kaladze on July 20? Quote from the speech: "When we talk about tomorrow's Tbilisi, my, your and everyone's desire should be one - to defeat hatred and enmity with each other."

Given that none of the claims in the Charter of Journalistic Ethics are supported by facts, we urge the Charter to clarify unsubstantiated claims. We also recommend taking into account the election environment and being wary of any assessment of any candidate, as any erroneous and misleading statements will only harm the democratic process.

Such an unsubstantiated accusation not only negatively affect the election process, but also contribute to the polarization of the society and the sowing of hatred," the statement reads.