Former MP Blamed Journalists for Partiality

According to the Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office, former MP Davit Kapanadze and his friend Giorgi Khorghashvili were accused for having assaulted journalist Ramaz Samkharadze. The court bailed them last week.

On October 9 2006 at the Internal Ministry’s Lagodekhi department the investigation was launched on premeditated physical assault of the director of Radio Hereti.  

“Several days before the local self-governmental elections on October 5, 2006, the broadcasting company “Hereti” revealed an analytical program “Mteli Kvira” where the presenter spoke about the candidates who were taking part in the elections. One of them was former MP Davit Kapanadze. The presenter said that Kapanadze had decided to be governor as he had been fed up with playing domino and cards. High ranking officials, who were his friends, should assist him.  The TV program made former MP furious. He threatened me to death and then by abolishing the broadcasting company. On October 9 2006 he attacked me in the street and beat me,” said Ramaz Samkharadze.

Preliminary investigation that was launched at the Gurjaani Prosecutor’s Office was soon stopped.

The Gurjaani District prosecutor, Giorgi Kokiashvili defined, “preliminary investigation concluded that Kapanadze’s behavior was not hooliganism and he did not cause public disorder.” The prosecutor wrote in the conclusion that he had discussed the case and stopped the investigation because there were no signs of crime in it.

Samkharadze applied to the Public Defender for help on the basis of Kokiashvili’s having given a wrong qualification to Kapanadze’s behavior. The ombudsman sent the materials to Prosecutor General’s Office to react on them. The latter abolished the decree of the District Prosecutor and on March 11 2007 the Kakheti Regional Prosecutor’s Office renewed the investigation. Several days later Kapanadze and Khorghanashvili were charged.

The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office stated that the accused people persecuted Samkharadze and thus violated the European Convention on Human Rights, International Charter of the Civil and Political Rights, Article 19.

Kapanadze said in his conversation with the Human Rights Center that he had not protested the investigation launched against him as well as bail of 10 000 lari he paid. However, he said that it does not mean that he agrees with the accusation. “None of Samkharadze’s accusations are true. He is my neighbor and I know him very well. I asked them to explain why he had spread negative information about me. He said that his information was based on various versions he had received and if I felt insulted, he would be ready to publish my position and apology to me. I am not going to investigate who had ordered him to spread such information before elections where I was going to take part as a candidate for the Municipality Deputy. I do not know the prosecutor who dropped the investigation because of the lack of proofs against me. I am an ordinary person of dignity. People know me well. Both local and central media sources announced several times that I had assaulted a journalist. That is absolute nonsense. He needed such information to gain popularity and raise the rate of his radio. Why has he forgotten that during my membership of the municipality, representatives of the Tax Inspection stopped raiding his radio company according to my request?  The Tax Inspection wanted to investigate the financial violations in company. You have right to protect your colleague but I ask everyone not to do it at the expense of breaching the rights and conscious of an innocent person,” said Kapanadze.

Representatives of the Kakheti Regional Prosecutor’s Office stated that witnesses are being interrogated at present. According to the prosecutor’s office, witnesses said in their testimonies that Kapanadze and Khorghanashvili did not beat the journalist. The prosecutor’s office refused to comment on the fact ‘in the interest of investigation.”

Gelaa Mtivlishvili, Kakheti