Statement of the Human Rights Center about Journalist Gela Mtivlishvili’s Detention and Physical Assault

The Human Rights Center condemns arbitrary detention and physical assault of journalist and human rights defender Gela Mtivlishvili by police officers in Tianeti.

On May 20 Gela Mtivlishvili - editor of the Information Center of Kakheti [ICK] and founder of the Information Center of Mtskheta-Mtianeti - went to Tianeti to work on a news story. The day before, he got a phone call and was told that social benefits had been cancelled for some Georgian Dream supporters after they had met with the coalition’s leaders.

According to Gela Mtivlishvili, when working on the reportage, he was taking photos of the Tianeti district police station. Suddenly, a man standing on the police station stairs waved his hand at him and shouted to come closer. The journalist did not obey his order, because the man was in plain clothes and nothing showed that he was police officer. As a result the man started heading towards Mtivlishvili and requested him to show his documents; the journalist asked him what his name was, but he only insisted on seeing his documents. Gela Mtivlishvili told him he was a journalist from the Information Center of Mtkhesta-Mtianeti and requested that he introduce himself and explain why he wanted to see his documents. The journalist was video-recording their conversation. The stranger tried to seize journalist’s camera. Suddenly, two police officers joined him; they grabbed the journalist and dragged him toward the police station; on the way they seized camera and cell-phone from the journalist. Gela Mtivlishvili was unsuccessfully requesting them to clarify reason of his detention. 

The journalist recalls that the stranger in plain clothes kicked him in the stomach twice and somebody hit him in the head too. The same person ordered others to put the journalist on a chair and not move. The journalist was not allowed even to go to the toilet. He requested to stop his inhuman treatment, to return his cell-phone and to allow him to call the lawyer and his relatives but the police officers laughed at his legal requests and told him his lawyer will arrive when it is necessary. 

40 minutes after the detention Gela Mtivlishvili felt sick because of nervousness and stress. A police officer called for an ambulance. Before the ambulance arrived Mamuka came downstairs, grabbed the journalist by the shoulders and pushed him outside the building all of suddenly; nobody had ordered him to leave the police station in advance.

Emergency brigade took the journalist to the Tianeti district hospital, where he stayed for several hours and received medical assistance. 

Manager of the Georgian Dream’s Tianeti office Rusudan Sisauri said she saw a police officer put my camera back into the journalist’s car after he was released from the police station. Later they checked that the photos and video- footage of the incident - materials which showed the violence, arbitrary detention and inhuman treatment the journalist had suffered at the hands of the deputy head of the Tianeti police department – had been erased from the camera.

The Human Rights Center is concerned about the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ (MIA) approach to the incident, reflected in their statement: “Journalist Gela Mtivlishvili was taking photos of the police station building and police officers close to the Tianeti district police office. The officers requested that he identify himself but Gela Mtivlishvili refused. Consequently, in order to establish his identity, he was taken into the police building and released several minutes later after his identity had been confirmed. However, the journalist refused to leave the building. Police officers had to use force to make Gela Mtivlishvili leave the police station. No clash had occurred during the incident.”

The Human Rights Center is concerned that the MIA, with its dismissive approach to the incident, is trying to evade responsibility and avoid punishing its employees who breached several requirements of the law.

The MIA confirmed in its statement that journalists have the right to take photos of police stations as well as police officers. Consequently, it is clear that journalist Gela Mtivlishvili was arbitrarily detained and his freedom unlawfully restricted for almost one hour; he was also maltreated and the footage which he was legally entitled to record and retain was erased from his cameras.

We call upon the MIA to immediately launch an internal investigation and hold accountable every officer who hindered the journalist from carrying out his professional activities and partook in violating his rights. It is our hope that this incident will not join the list of instances where intimidation of and physical assault against journalists have not been investigated.

We call upon the Chief Prosecutor’s Office to launch a criminal investigation into the beating, physical assault and interference in the professional activities of the journalist Gela Mtivlishvili; to interrogate the victimized journalist, witnesses, and suspects, and to carry out all necessary investigative procedures.

We call upon the Public Defender of Georgia, diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia and international organizations to pay attention to the case and respond to it adequately.

We would also like to remind the public that Gela Mtivlishvili is a principled journalist who works for the protection of human rights. He has been a coordinator and partner of the Human Rights Center’s office in the Kakheti region. Because of his work, government officials have tried to intimidate him, and he has also been the target of verbal and physical assaults. Unfortunately, these incidents have all gone uninvestigated, effectively sanctioning law enforcement officers’ attacks not only on Gela Mtivlishvili but other journalists as well.

Human Rights Center
  21.05.12.