TV Programs ‘Patrol’ & ‘District Inspection’ To Be Sued

  TV Programs ‘Patrol’ & ‘District Inspection’ To Be Sued

The socially excluded parts of society have a complaint against the Minister of Internal Affairs. They are against the airing of the TV program ‘District Inspection’ and want it canceled. Dissatisfaction with the show is stems from the fact that the program is airing private family conflicts – a violation of the right to privacy.

The TV program ‘District Inspection’ started in 2006 and is shown on the Rustavi 2 channel. NGOs are against airing the private life of people and want the program to be canceled. The population has a positive view of the program itself but find the presence of armed police and cameramen in the community unacceptable.

A family which was filmed and featured in the program now wants to sue the program makers in court. For the sake of their own safety, they also want to remain anonymous. 

One of the family members stated: “It is very good to have police inspection in every district - this is very helpful, but if they come here with cameras, it’s no help at all. Nobody needs that kind of help. It is simply their advertisement, not help. My family is the victim of this program. We were questioned and then this was aired. While they were filming I was crying for them not to do so, but they paid no attention to me. This is what Mr. Merabishvili [the Minister for Internal Affairs] is doing - the very person who should be protecting our rights. Is he a clown aiming to create entertainment for the viewers? If they can’t work without cameras, we do not need this kind of police patrol. If I have a family conflict, I need them to solve it, not show the whole country what is going on in my house. If that is going to be the case, we won’t call them anymore; in fact we will do the opposite and try to get rid of them.”

One of the victims recalls the words of program creator, who violates the rights of citizens through these programs. If you remember the very first episode of ‘District Inspection’, the former head of the press center and creator of the program Guram Donadze made the comment: “It will be both an enjoyable and serious program”.  “If they want to make fun and have a good time, let them use their own families. We shall consult our lawyers and sue them in court”, said one of the victims.

NGOs who strive to protect human rights, share this view of the problem - a problem that nobody has attempted to address. A representative of ‘Article 42 of the Constitution’, Eka Darsania, states that whoever violates this right should be punished. “If the person does not agree that his private life should be aired on TV, it should not be done - this is a violation of their rights. According to the Article 20 of the constitution; private life, private views and private records which are recorded by various means, are not to be used. There are also other laws being violated here, for example, a suspect is not a criminal and films of such people should not be aired - although this is currently done every day. Through such acts presumption of innocence is constantly being violated”, says Eka Darsania. 

MP Manana Nachkebia also shares the above views. The citizens will be acting correctly if they take this to court. Not only ‘District Inspection’ but also ‘Patrol’ violates human rights. People are not willing to have their problems aired in public.

If the authorities want to help people, they should do so without publicizing their activities. This is a clear violation of human rights.

Eka Gulua