Adjara Supreme Council MP from Georgian Dream Medea Vasadze must within one week decide how to act due to the phone call made to TV-Channel 25 journalist Jaba Ananidze. Majority member Gia Masalkin says that the majority has given Medea Vasadze a choice: she must either apologize or leave the post of the Human Rights Committee. In case if Vasadze will not take any of the decisions proposed, majority will discuss her issue again.
“This was our proposal. Discussion on the given issue continued for a long time and we had many opinions. Mainline was that whatever one dislikes in journalist’s activity, there are other ways for civilized response. Free speech must be answered with free speech,” Masalkin said and stressed that 10 June, at the session of the so called majority of the Supreme Council, Vasadze’s actions (phone call to journalist and later making insulting statements towards Ananidze on different TV-channels) were assessed as inadmissible.
Journalist claims that Vasadze called him after the film about Adjara Supreme Council expenses was aired on TV-Channel 25.
Ananidze perceived the phone-call as interference with journalistic activity and addressed Adjara Prosecutor General’s Office for reaction.
NGOs – Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Media Development Fund and Charter of Journalistic Ethics also responded to Ananidze’s statement and requested launch of investigation.