Today a verdict incompatible with the law was issued - Nino Lomjaria went to visit Nika Gvaramia in the 12th penitentiary

Public defender Nino Lomjaria arrived at the Rustavi 12th Penitentiary Institution to visit Nika Gvaramia, CEO of the Mtavari Channel.

Nino Lomjaria said that today is the high point, when the most influential and critical media manager has been convicted by a court of law for a crime that is not a crime at all.

"The goal of my visit is to visit a prisoner whom the Public Defender says was sentenced today not in accordance with the law. As you know, the Public Defender has studied this charge and the case file for one of the charges in great detail, and we believe that instead of a criminal offence,  corporate law may have had an actual dispute with the petitioner in this case.

I believe that the principle of the law was violated, violated Article 7 of the Strasbourg European Convention, which says that a person cannot be prosecuted for an act that is not considered a crime, and we believe that there was no evidence of a crime on one of the convictions.

You have to look at all of this in a general context. I think this is a continuation of a hostile environment toward critical and government-independent media:
We've seen numerous criminal cases against media executives, attacks, attempts to discredit them, today came the high point when the head of the most influential and critical media outlet was convicted of a crime that is not a crime at all.
All of this serves to put pressure on critical media, such pressure does not exist in a democratic state. With today's decision, we effectively said that we do not live in a democratic country, but in an authoritarian one," Nino Lomjaria said.

The ombudsman said she intends to study the verdict in detail within the framework of her mandate and give further legal assessments, which she will provide to international organizations.