A statement of the Public Defender of Georgia

12 07 2012

News outlets have disseminated information according to which an incident took place during a meeting of representatives of the Georgian Dream coalition with the population of the village of Karaleti. A group of citizens assaulted the action participants verbally, which grew into a physical confrontation. As a result, several participants of the action and journalists were injured. At present, according to the information at our disposal, about 13 participants of the action are hospitalized with different injuries in the GorMedi hospital in the town of Gori.
The Public Defender of Georgia has also contacted the injured journalists. At this stage, the injured include representatives of the Info 9 news agency – Tamta Iluridze, Eka Iluridze, Shorena Khabalashvili, Rezo Nadiradze, and Lekso Aleksidze; journalists of TV 9 – Nukri Beglarashvili and Nodar Skhirtladze; representatives of the Trialeti TV company – Nino Bolashvili and Mamuka Kevkhishvili; and a journalist of the Shida Kartli Information Center – Saba Tsitsikashvili. According to the verbal explanation of the journalists, a part of them have had their equipment damaged, and they are now in the Gori Division of the MIA.
According to the disseminated information, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into the aforementioned incident. Accordingly, I call on the law enforcement bodies to take swift and effective measures to identify the persons who broke the law.
The Public Defender of Georgia continues to obtain explanatory notes and information about the aforementioned incident.