When Proest Rally in Rustaveli Avenue Rally was Raided by the Police Imedi was Broadcasting Live Poker Game

Nata Dzvelishvili, media.ge

Television Company Maestro was broadcasting live the Rustaveli Avenue protest rally and the following processes almost all night.  Early morning May 26 Maestro broadcasted live the comments of opposition leaders, their family members, rally participants, who compared the last night processes with the April 9 1989 events and accused the police special forces in using excessive force.  Maestro also aired the statement by the Georgian Young Lawyers Association saying that police special forces used disproportional force. The video material showing how a vehicle from the escort of one of the opposition leaders Nino Burjanadze hits a policeman was also aired.  Maestro actively reported on the information about the detained and lost persons.

Television Company Kavkasia also rebroadcasted the police raid video material, although the channel stopped broadcasting soon.  Other TV-channels started reporting on the rally raid two hours later.

Television Company Rustavi 2 aired a 15-minute special news flash Courier.  In the live reporting journalist Natia Trapaidze said that situation in Rustaveli Avenue is calm, there is no information about anyone injured and the police have at several locations found the so called "Molotov cocktails" and piles of stones, which "allegedly were planned to be used against the police."

"Policemen do not show aggression towards journalists, while the protesters did," Natia Trapaidze reported live.  After they showed how the opposition leaders were detained.  At the end of the news flash attention was paid to the shots of the damaged scene that was prepared for the military parade.

Courier was aired with special news flash several times during the night.  In later programs they reported about a policeman killed in the process and a live interview of Interior Ministry representative Shota Utiashvili, who spoke about the injured.  News teller Zaal Udumashvili paid attention to the part of the GYLA (Georgian Young Lawyers Association) statement saying that police had a right to disperse the unsanctioned protest rally.  Video report showed how the police letting people through and then leaving the Rustaveli Avenue themselves.

May 26 1:30 a.m. was also aired the 15-minute special news flash Moambe of the public broadcaster First Channel.  Journalist Tamar Urushadze was reporting live.  After showing the police raid shoots she pointed to the fact that the Tbilisi Municipality representative warned the protesters about the planned police raid.  Second part of the news flash was dedicated to the speech of the US Ambassador to Georgia who called on Georgian society to be careful.  The First Channel has not made any other reports on the protest rally forceful dispersal during all night.

Television Company Imedi reported on the Rustaveli Avenue events at 02:00 a.m. May 26.  Before that Imedi was live broadcasting a poker game.  According to the news program Chronika (Chronics) Lasha Kharazishvili, Mayor's office several times warned the rally participants about the unsanctioned meeting and then dispersed them with water cannon.  In the video material shown the rally participants are calmly leaving the Rustaveli Avenue.  Imedi also spoke about John Bass's statement and stressed that the US Ambassador called on the society not to interfere with the planned military parade.  The news reader also spoke about the GYLA statement claiming police raid against an unsanctioned rally.  Chronika was aired one more time during the night, mainly speaking about the policeman killed in the process.

At the time when police was raiding the protest rally in Rustaveli Avenue the TV-channel Real TV was showing a film about political past of one of the opposition leaders Nino Burjanadze.  The TV-Channel reacted to the police raid only at 02:30 a.m.  Attention was paid to the fact of killing of one policeman.  Video material showing how one of the vehicles from Burjanadze's escort hits the policeman was aired many times.  They also several times aired the video material showing how Nino Burjanadze is leaving the Rustaveli Avenue before the police special forces used water cannons.  Rest of the night the channel .