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Strange Adventures of Four Journalists on Their Way to Batumi

November 13, 2007
Why were journalists detained on their way to a seminar?

They cannot state the exact reasons for the incident, but one thing is obvious - the patrol police stopped their mini bus, by which they were going to Batumi to attend a seminar, for no reason. The police arrested the driver and moved the mini bus to the car impound lot. As for the journalists, they barely arrived at their destination three hours later, after the chairman of the Constitutional Court got involved in the case.

Nino Mikiashvili, a journalist for newspaper “Resonance” said that on November 7 she and three more journalists – Shorena Shanshashvili (News Agency “Pirveli”), Ana Datuashvili (Newspaper “Georgian Messenger”) and Nato Mchedlishvili (Newspaper “Georgia Today”) were going to Batumi to attend a special seminar organized by the Constitutional Court.

“We gathered in front of the Sport Palace at 11:00 AM where a mini bus of “Caucasus Travel” was waiting for us; we got on the bus and went to Batumi. It was past 12:00 PM when we stopped in Surami for a snack. Our colleagues were calling us and informing us about the events in Tbilisi. Having entered the café we asked the host to switch on the TV or radio but unfortunately none of them worked at the café. We were speaking about the situation in Tbilisi loudly; people gathered around us. A man dressed in black was sitting at the table who directly asked us: “Who dispersed the demonstrators? Did Avaliani do it?” We were surprised about his question because it was strange he knew the surnames of the members of the riot police. But we did not pay much attention to it.”

Nino Mikiashvili recalled that it was almost 1:00 PM when they left the café. “A strange black car with tinted windows was parked next to our mini bus. Three men left the café at the same time we did and got into that car. One of them scolded the president. I was even surprised that he was not afraid to scold the president so loudly. We immediately doubted that they were policemen; they got into the car and left at a high speed.”

A patrol car approached the mini bus of the journalists as soon as they left Surami. They inquired about the names of the journalists and went on their way. “Nearly ten minutes later two patrol cars stopped us and made the driver get out of the bus by shouting at him. We also went out the bus, even though we had not breached any traffic rules; they did not explain anything to us. Several minutes later they blamed the driver for not having paid a fine. Meanwhile one hour had passed and we were ordered to get our baggage out of the mini bus and were promised another bus which would take us to Batumi. Then they took our mini bus to the impound lot. We protested their intention and decided to take photos of the policemen. They were going to detain the driver groundlessly and were hindering us as well. This made the policemen furious. The policemen started to insult us and drew up a ticket for resisting the police. We called the Constitutional Court and asked for help. Finally, we learned the chairman was involved and the governor of the Zestafoni District sent a car for us. Three hours later we managed to continue our trip to Batumi. Later, we learned that our drivers spent the whole night in a detention center.”

The journalists suspect that they were delayed because of their loud conversation about the current events in Tbilisi. “We think somebody informed the patrol police about out conversation; we cannot see any other reason for our detention. We did not breach any traffic rules,” said Mikiashvili. 

Nino Tarkhnishvili, Tbilisi


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