Punitive operation of State Security against the Mtavari Channel
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The sabotage case which has become a punitive operation against the critical media -the State Security Service has issued an emergency statement in which Liluashvili's agency accuses the Mtavari Channel of distorting the facts.
The State Security Service has made conclusions based on the questioning of respondents who were summoned to the State Security Service after the broadcast of a program on "Mtavari Channel" . Liluashvili's Agency is now asking the "Mtavari Channel" to provide working material of this story.
Misha Sesiashvili, the host of Saturday News, confirms that both he and the management of the channel are ready to cooperate and pass the requested materials to the relevant investigative bodies.
The State Security Service said in its statement that the Mtavari Channel was accused of spreading misinformation, creating fake news and intentionally spreading panic among the population. The most interesting part of the statement concerns pro-Russian and anti-Western propaganda. It should be noted that the agency, which has not identified and detained any Russian agents in Georgia for eight years, has accused the Mtavari Channel of dissemination of anti-Western rhetoric.
The State Security statement refers to a number of political contexts, including the fact that the investigative agency seems to be trying to link this report and the actions of journalists to certain political groups. It is noteworthy that the investigation into the sabotage was initiated by the Security Service a few months before the broadcast of the story.
Tamta Muradashvili, Deputy Director General and lawyer of "Mtavari Channel", says the case is politically motivated and, along with pressure on media, aims at political retribution.
This investigation and the current statement by the State Security are purely political and have no legal basis. In almost every paragraph of this statement, a political motive is evident. If we are dealing with misinformation, it is not a case of State Security, it is a matter of media ethics and not of State Security investigation. In addition, it was directly stated that this information was disseminated by certain political forces which also indicates that this statement is politically motivated," - said Tamta Muradashvili.
According to the Deputy General Director of the channel, this is a very dangerous precedent and therefore it is planned to translate this one and the previous statements and keep the international community informed.
Nika Gvaramia, General Director of the TV channel, has also responded on his Facebook page to the statement made by the Georgian Security Service saying that the translation was correct and that the guilt of State Security was more obvious in this case. We remind you that the scandalous story prepared on the subject of Covid 19 was shown on the channel on June 20 at "Mtavari Saturday News".
