Statement of the Coalition for Freedom of Choice about Forbes Georgia’s Clarifications

On March 27, Revaz Sakevarishvili, editor-in-chief of the Forbes Georgia quitted position to protest founder’s interference in editorial activities and attempted restriction of independence of the edition.

In reply to Sakevarishvili’s statement, on March 28, the Forbes Georgia published a statement on its website and blamed Sakevarishvili in plagiarism and added that editor-in-chief  was “dismissed for violating publishing business and legal ethics that was within responsibility of the editor-in-chief of the magazine Forbes Georgia.

The magazine also clarified that “ Revaz Sakevarishvili copied most of the questions for his interview with billionaire opposition politician Bidzina Ivanishvili from the one which the Russian business daily, Vedomosti, published with the billionaire seven years ago: “I Did Not Expect To Become a Billionaire” (Ведомости: „Не думал, что стану миллиардером).

We studied the article of the Russian edition in detail as well as Revaz Sakevarishvili’s interview with Bidzina Ivanishvili. As a result of the analysis, we concluded that there is only one similarity between these two editorial materials – the respondent and his biography, which cannot be changed for various editions. Consequently, Revaz Sakevarishvili’s interview is not plagiarism at all.

We believe that the Forbes Georgia discredited the journalist’s honor and professional reputation by blaming Revaz Sakevarishvili in plagiarism. So, we request the edition to either prove the plagiarism by facts, or to publicly deny the accusation which obviously aimed to discredit Revaz Sakevarishvili as a journalist.

Besides that, we have processed documents to study responsibilities and duties of the Forbes Georgia and its publisher company Media Partner on the one side and editor-in-chief of the Magazine on the other side.

In accordance to the statute and labor contract with Revaz Sakevarishvili, Media Partner was not authorized to interfere in the editorial activities and give instructions to the editor-in-chief of the magazine. Additionally, we remind the publishers of the Forbes Georgia that Georgian Constitution ensures freedom of mass media sources but prohibits censorship.

Coalition For Freedom of Choice