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Match Which Was not Covered by Journalists – Aggressive Fans of MIA Attacked Fans of “Azoti” Team

May 11, 2010
Manon Bokuchava, Kvemo Kartli

Georgia occupied the 126th place in the new rating of the freedom of press made by the Freedom House. The following story demonstrates why we were so low in the rating and why we occupied the place next to Nepal in the freedom of press.

On April 27, the basketball team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs played last match with the Rustavi “Energy Invest”. After the Energy Invest won the play with 20 points the incident started in the sport-complex of the Rustavi “Azoti”.

Journalist of the “Rustavi News” Giorgi Mazmishvili recalled the details of the incident: “the fans of the MIA were astonished by the defeat of their team. The policemen were particularly active. They tried to fail the play several times. The quarrel started on the playground. But later everybody calmed down and the match finished with the victory of the Energy Invest.”

“After the play, when fans from Rustavi and journalists left the playground, the employees of the MIA surrounded nearly 20 young men and stated to beat them. We tried to work and record the incident but the policemen dressed in civil forms did not allow us. I represented the newspaper “Rustavi News” at the place. The correspondents and film-crews of the Public Broadcasting and regional TV-station “Kvemo Kartli TV-Radio Company” were together with me.

“When they saw us recording the incident, the policemen took the correspondents of the PB and local TV-station aside. I took photos of them taking the journalists aside. The second photo which I managed to take that day was beating of the fans by the policemen.”

“The light of my photo-camera attracted the attention of the policemen. They immediately approached me and demanded to follow them. They surrounded me and asked what I had taken; after I answered them they demanded my camera. The policemen threatened me with breaking the camera unless I showed them what I had taken. I had to give them the camera. Later they demanded my ID; I obeyed their order. Later, a policeman called and reported to somebody about me – don’t worry we have detained him.”

“Thus, they seized my Dictaphone, mobile phone and took chip from the camera. The policemen told me they were going to keep my equipment as a present from me. They said the things were not expensive and I could buy new ones. I asked them why they were acting so brutally and they replied only MIA had exclusive right to record the events.”

Traditional Problems of the Regional Media

None of the TV-Companies, which were on the place of incident, reported about the quarrels inside and outside the playground. The regional TV-Station, which is famous for their loyalty towards the authority, and the Public Broadcasting did not report about the incidents. Rustavi 2 very superficially mentioned the discontent of the MIA fans at the basketball match.

Unlike his colleagues, journalist Giorgi Mazmishvili is not going to keep silence about the incidents of the day. “I recognized several policemen among the people who surrounded me in the yard of the sport-complex. Later, when I went to the sport hall to cover other event, they asked me ironically: “Have you come to work here again?”

Mazmishvili said that on the day policemen beat about 20 people and pushed them in the cars in front of the journalists. As for the equipment which was seized from Giorgi, deputy regional governor Zakro Darchiashvili assisted him to return them. “He returned me everything within ten minutes. Of course, all photos were deleted. However, I thanked to Darchiashvili in the name of the editorial board in my article,” said the journalists.

Humanrights.ge asked the deputy regional governor to comment on the incident. Darchiashvili did not deny that he assisted the journalist to return his equipment but did not impose the responsibility of the incident over the policemen.

“Yes I assisted the journalist to return his equipment but I cannot tell you who had his things. I do not know whether those people were law enforcement officers or ordinary citizens. Long time has passed since then… I cannot add anything more,” said Zakro Darchiashvili.

The number first of the election list of the National Movement Mamuka Chikovani in Kvemo Kartli region also attended the match. We asked him to comment on the incident when he drove a public bus during his pre-election campaign. “I learned about the incident from the newspaper. Nobody has appealed to me and as I am told similar fact did not happen at all,” said Chikovani.

As a rule, we could not get any reply from the information and public relation department of the MIA.

Reporting about the violence of the policemen might cause some problems for the newspaper “Rustavi News”.

Tamar Batiashvili, editor of the Rustavi News:  “Several days ago the owner of the space which we are renting for the office came here and told us to leave the office – you seem to be very radical people and my son, who is working for the law enforcement agency faced some problems because of you. He said they were oppressed by the head of the regional police department.

“We are not going to leave the office. We have signed contract with the owner and have not breached any paragraph of it. If we appeal to the court regarding the fact, we wonder what the owner will do. Will he say the real reason of his request to empty the space? I have been working in the regional media for a long time and I can say that they are doing like they did during Shevardnadze’s government. The methods are not outdated at all.

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