Charter of Journalistic Ethics Responds to Violations of Journalists’ Rights During Election Day-Statement

Media Ge

 

The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics has been attentively supervising the work of the media on the election day. Despite the fact that the October 27 elections have been conducted much more peacefully, compared to the previous elections, still there have been identified facts of interfering with the journalistic activity, pressuring and abuse, which is outrageous according to the Charter’s viewpoint.

Guria news journalist Nato Gogelia stresses that Georgian Dream representative hadn’t allowed her to ask questions to the women that were at Chokhatari polling station # 62 with some propaganda stuff and were writing down the names of the voters . And during night hours, Republican party representative Gocha Jikia ,that had come to Chokhatauri election district without accreditation, verbally abused journalists of Guria News, which had been trying to find out the reason what an unaccredited person was doing among the district commission.

The newspaper “Kakhetis Khma”(Voice of Kakheti) writes about another fact involving verbal abuse of a journalist and interference with professional activity. According to the newspaper, Head of Election Commission of Khodasheni village polling station attempted to not allow journalist Giorgi Chekurishvili to make interview at Telavi Municipality, while in Akhmeta, Commission members compelled journalist Maka Mosiashvili to stop shooting and made her leave the polling station.

Another information spread by Hereti radio reads that representatives of the ruling party had demanded from Hereti journalists Giorgi Edisherashvili, that had been trying to shoot violations taking place at the polling station of Omalo village of Pankisi Gorge, to stop shooting and tried to force him out of the building.

Netgazeti photo-reporter Davit(Mikheil)Shubladze has as well had certain issues. In the beginning he wasn’t allowed at the polling station # 34 of Mtatsminda election district despite having demonstrated his accreditation to the commission representatives.

The major part of the aforementioned incidents are related to the violations identified by journalists at the polling stations.

We want to emphasize the incident that has taken place at Chikaani polling station #14, Kvareli, when Head of Kakheti Information Center Gela Mtivlishvili, as he himself has reported, was physically abused and forcibly made to leave the station. There is a video footage of the given incident.

The Charter calls upon the government and law enforcement agencies to pay attention to the facts that have taken place today, and investigate them all.

The Charter of Journalistic Ethics believes that interference with journalistic activity is unacceptable, as well as the incorrect interpretation of the decree made by the CEC last year, which has been the case in this situation. When forcing journalists out of the election precincts, Representatives of the local commission had been following the decree of CEC, which the Charter and other NGOs have been demanding to be abolished more than a year now. In spite of the fact that CEC had abolished several items of the decree before the presidential elections, it seems that the regulations still remain a factor hampering the media to provide coverage of election process. The given circumstance, according to the Charter of Journalistic Ethics, contradicts both the constitutional right of the freedom of speech and expression and the principles of free and democratic elections.