Assaults in Akhmeta – Two Journalists are beaten and their video cameras broken

Gela Mtivlishvili, ICK.GE

In Akhmeta on the night of August 22,  Studio GNS journalists Vasil Dabrundashvili and Bacho Buliskeria were beaten by people connected with Gia Lortkipanidze, assistant of Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his brother Davit, the head of the Constitutional Security Department (CSD) in Khaketi region.

The journalists, from the Nana Lejava program Weekly Report, were trying to prepare a report on the issue of illegal deforestation and illegal sawmills in Akhmeta. Osiko and Nodar Chichiashvili, father and son, who own one of the sawmills physically assaulted the journalists. According to Vasil Dabrundashvili, they were assaulted when they were trying to record the area around the sawmill and illegally cut down trees.

“We were there to make a report. We had information that several illegal sawmills are processing illegally cut wood. We went to one of these places were a sawmill was operating. When we decided to talk with them, two people who were involved in the illegal work, Osiko and Nodar Chichiashvili, came out. They physically abused us and broke our video camera. Our cameraman was beaten and is now injured. Finally we managed to  run away and escape the situation” Vasil Dabrundashvili told Information Centre of Khaketi (ICK).

- Was the material destroyed?

- No, the material was saved, we have the cassette

- How long were they beating you?

- Nearly 10 minutes. Afterward I was able to call police.

Akhmeta police officers came to the scene, but there was no immediate reaction. Despite the fact that the video camera was broken and journalists had been beaten the police officers didn’t make any arrests. Kakha Kupatadze, journalist at TV 9, says that Osiko and Nodar Chichiashvili also physically and verbally assaulted journalists who were there to report on what had happened. Kupatadze said that when they went to Uto, Akhmeta to report on the incident, the Chichiashvilis came running at them with lanterns and wielding sticks, trying to take the camera away. When they were unable to take the camera, they damaged it instead.

I went with Nana Lejava to Chiciashvilis’ sawmill. Before we went to our destination I called  122 for an risk assessment. “Hello. I am calling from Akhmeta, I am journalist Gela Mtivlishvili. In Uto on 9 April Street, journalists were beaten and their video cameras broken. We are going there to perform our professional duty. We were informed that they may still assault us, try to break our equipment and beat us. Therefore, I am calling the police, asking them to come there to avoid any escalation of the situation," I informed the police.

The police didn’t come, but the Chicilashvilis refrained from aggressive behavior. They didn’t allow us to take nearby territory even from a road. Nana Lejava found pieces from a broken video camera. “They probably dropped it. They went inside our house and frightened a child, that’s why we kicked them out,” said Osiko Chiciashvili. On the question if GNS journalists entered their home and they were beaten in order to kick them out of the house, then why were other journalists who reported on the incident also beaten, Osiko answered that they hadn’t beaten anyone. Despite repeated requests to the owner to present all the necessary documents showing that the sawmill was operating legally, Chiciashvili didn’t show us anything. “I will show it to the relevant authority’s environmental protection unit and ecologists; who are you and why should I show it to you?” sadi Chichiashvili.

The district hospital provided first aid to the injured journalists. Local police told us that a criminal case has been started under the Criminal Code’s Article 120, which deals with intentional light damage.

Various sources allege that the Chichiashvilis are illegally cutting down trees. Gia Lortkipanidze, assistant of Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his brother Davit Lortkipanidze, head of CSD, are supporting them. The Lortkipanidzes are from Akhmeta and control this region.