Public Servant Verbally Insulted Journalist

Maka Malakmadze, Adjara

Employee of Adjara Supreme Council Koba Adeishvili left insulting comments on the article “Who Celebrated Batumoba for 240 000 lari” in the Newspaper Batumelebi. Journalists and nongovernmental organizations working in Adjara Autonomous Republic request reaction on the fact.

“Batumelebi’s staff, do you think you are journalists?” “What is the connection between this event and Adjara Supreme Council? But for some reasons, Batumelebi tries to seek links between them and to blame Supreme Council in everything. Based on this article, I can state that this edition is absolutely biased. I am responsible for my words. I do not care about my obligation to be patient as a public servant. It is you, who should be careful. You can sue me; fuck you,” these words belong to the employee of the Adjara Supreme Council. Koba Adeishvili posted this comment on the open group of the Newspaper Batumelebi in Facebook, where journalist Nana Kvachadze’s article about the Batumoba Holiday was published.

Nana Kvachadze, journalist of the newspaper Batumelebi: “It is not a problem of only Koba Adeishvili’s politeness or impoliteness. The problem is that public servant dares to insult and curse media edition without any grounds and in parallel to it have sense of impunity. In similar case, not only junior servant of the public agency but the agency itself is responsible for it. If Adjara Supreme Council does not react on this fact, that means they appreciate and encourage similar attitude towards journalists in their office. We cannot explain this fact otherwise.”

Yesterday, at 2:00 pm journalists and representatives of NGOs gathered in press-café to discuss this fact. Members of the Adjara Supreme Council were also invited to the meeting but they did not come saying they had a session in the council. Only council members Svetlana Kudba and Eka Targamadze attended the meeting and said they were not informed about the incident and promised to provide the legislative body of the Autonomous Republic with the information.

Head of press-center at Adjara Supreme Council Marine Kupreishvili said her colleague Koba Adeishvili left comment on Facebook as a private person and not a public servant. “We, the Supreme Council personnel and I, as his personal chief, also as a head of press-center, condemn the fact and believe that it was not ethic behavior. However, apart to that, Koba Adeishvili is a private person and has his personal opinions. I think he did not leave this incorrect comment as an employee of the Supreme Council.”