Restricted Rights for Journalists in New Parliament

Tazo Kupreishvili, Netgazeti

After the Parliament of Georgia is moved to Kutaisi, journalists will not be able to work in the session hall with individual video-cameras. Part of journalists thinks it will have negative impact on the transparency of the parliament, but another part refrains from commenting the issue.

On February 6, vice-speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Mikheil Machavariani told journalists that due to specifics of the new parliament building of the parliament in Kutaisi, journalists will not cover the sessions of the parliament and various committees by individual cameras. A special media-center will be set up in the parliament, where journalists will have opportunity to work. Eight cameras will be installed in the hall of plenary session, and journalists will be able to watch the ongoing session in media-center and copy video-materials for their TV-stories. Besides that, video-cameras will be installed in the halls of committee sessions. Mikheil Machavariani said the Public Broadcasting II will completely cover the parliamentary sessions that will exclude all doubts regarding censorship.

Lawyer Tamar Kordzaia thinks it is a step taken against transparency of the parliament’s activities.

“I remember first it started with the government of Georgia. Initially, the journalists were prohibited to freely attend and cover the government’s sessions. They received instructions that journalists will have one conference space where they could learn entire information.  Finally, the government’s sessions were completely closed. Afterwards, the journalists were restricted to cover court hearings and now the same will happen in the parliament. It is unacceptable to introduce similar restrictions in the parliament because it is a space for political debates and freedom of speech must be particularly protected there; so, journalists shall be able to easily obtain information in the parliament and spread it afterwards. Creation of similar obstacles shows that the government acts against transparency and does its best to complicate access to information,” Tamar Kordzaia told Netgazeti.

Chairman of the Georgian Council of Journalistic Ethic Charter Zviad Koridze said the new regulations will worsen working conditions for journalists in the new parliament and relatively people will have lower access to the information. Zviad Koridze thinks, the parliament will become a closed institution like it happened in case of the judiciary system.

“It is a bit strange that it was initiated during the parliamentary election year, when many political debates shall occur in the parliament, committee and commission halls. Even more, I am sure, many legislative initiatives will originate in this period and the legislative process will become more active,” Zviad  Koridze said, “Journalists will be able to use only the materials prepared by the official institution and they will have less opportunity to work with separate MPs – to interview them, record their comments, etc.”

Zviad Koridze said the governmental officials often justify new regulations by examples of developed, democratic countries that is not correct. Chairman of the Council of Journalistic Ethic Charter believes every country has its context and experience in concrete fields. He said the government often does not share the practice which could be acceptable for, let’s say, media representatives.

“For example, you can easily enter the Bundestag office and use live-broadcasting equipment to prepare footage in the hall of plenary session. The Bundestag even offers a service of live-broadcasting equipment to its citizens,” Zviad Koridze said.

He thinks the official camera might not record an important fact during the ongoing session. There is a risk that discussions, arguments, manipulation with election panels will not be video-recorded.

“The parliament will have a film-director who will decide what to shoot,” Zviad Koridze told Netgazeti.

Head of news room of the TV-Company “Maestro” Tamar Rukhadze thinks: “Unless individual cameras are allowed and there will be general signal, work in the parliament will become complicated because there are images that are not shown by general camera. The main camera is focused on the speaker and speech-makers and there are some other images that should be taken in the parliament; for example manipulation with election panels, which was often recorded by our and other journalists. Similar scenes will not be recorded by common camera.”

Tamar Rukhadze also believes that if journalists will be able to interview MPs, there will be less threat about transparency of the parliament’s activities.

Heads of news rooms at the Public Broadcasting Company, TV-Company Imedi and Rustavi said they do not have information about the new regulations. Consequently, they will not make comments on the issue before studying the issue personally.

Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Procedural Issues Khatuna Gogorishvili told Netgazeti that regulations with regard to video-cameras have nothing to do with the possible changes in the parliament’s regulations.

“The Parliament’s Regulation does not regulate the installment of cameras in the session hall. It cannot be regulated by this document; the resolution of the parliament’s administration regulates it and it has and will have nothing to do with the parliament’s regulations,” the MP told Netgazeti.

Initially, Georgian printed media spread information that the Parliamentary Committee of Procedural Issues worked on new regulations in the framework of the new regulations.