Georgia: Official States Condition for Imedi's Re-Opening

The Georgian government is intensifying its investigation into tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili and his ties with Imedi television station, alleging that the opposition financier was attempting to create an "illegal army" in Georgia.

In a telephone interview with EurasiaNet, Deputy Prosecutor Nika Gvaramia stressed that the government is investigating Patarkatsishvili, and not Imedi, for evidence of wrongdoing. Formal charges, however, have not yet been brought.

"There are no accusations against the television station. There are accusations against Badri Patarkatsishvili," he said. "The TV will be able to broadcast if we have guarantees it will not be used as a weapon of Badri Patarkatsishvili."

Lewis Robertson, the head of News Media Caucasus, Imedi's parent company, told EurasiaNet that no one from the prosecutor's office ever presented any such deal to the television station. Robertson stated that News Corp., which controls News Media Caucasus, is continuing to fight the station's closure in Georgian court. Patarkatsishvili was Imedi's majority stakeholder, but in late October he announced an intention to temporarily transfer his shares to his partner, media baron Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

According to Robertson, the situation with Imedi has gotten worse; on November 19 the head of Imedi Radio – which has not been formally mentioned in the government's case – was not allowed to enter the radio station.

Imedi was forcibly taken off the air on November 7, after riot police entered the building. Two hours later, President Mikheil Saakashvili officially announced a state of emergency and suspended news broadcasts on all but state-financed television and radio stations. [For background, see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The state of emergency was officially lifted on November 16, but Imedi remains closed. Under a court order, the station's broadcast license has been suspended for three months and its assets frozen.

While Gvaramia would not discuss the case with EurasiaNet, investigators have shown little sign of dropping allegations that Patarkatsishvili was conspiring to overthrow the government, and that Imedi figured prominently in his alleged plans. Despite the free flow of accusations, the Georgian-born tycoon, who now lives in London, has not been officially charged.

On November 16, prosecutors presented a series of telephone conversations between Patarkatsishvili and Giorgi Targamadze, the head of the station's public and political programs, and video footage of a cache of arms allegedly found in the apartment of Giorgi Beridze, the head of two security firms with links to Patarkatsishvili.

According to Gvaramia, the prosecutor's office has proof that Beridze, who was arrested on November 13, instructed one of his employees to find "experienced people" to create a private militia.

Imedi employees, however, question the validity of the government's evidence. Levan Vapkhadze, a producer for the station's news magazine show, Droeba (Times), denies making statements attributed to him on one of the tapes. On the tape in question, another Imedi producer, Sopo Chaava, claims she heard Vapkhadze expressing a desire that opposition protests in early November would become another "April 9" -- a reference to April 9, 1989, when Soviet troops used lethal force to suppress a peaceful protest in front of parliament. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"What they need is propaganda to justify themselves. We know they are looking for something," Vapkhadze said, noting that he was not afraid of being arrested. "In a normal country, it would be a scandal that they are listening to our phone conversations."

The Imedi case has already become a cornerstone of the opposition's presidential election campaign. On November 19, members of the 10-party opposition coalition that staged the recent Tbilisi protests called for Georgians to return to the streets on Sunday, November 25 for "massive" demonstrations in support of the pro-opposition television station.

Former state minister for conflict resolution, Giorgi Khaindrava, one of the coalition's leaders, appealed to journalists to join the rally, arguing that Imedi's fate could become a harbinger of things to come. "Today it is Imedi, tomorrow it'll be Rustavi," he said, referring to the pro-government Rustavi-2 television station.

Political scientist Giorgi Khutsishvili agreed that the prosecutor's office is "escalating" the fight against Imedi and Patarkatsishvili. Right now, it is a matter of "justifying" the "crackdown" at Imedi and "isolating" Patarkatsishvili, argued Khutsishvili, the founder of the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation.

"They have to build on it [the case against Patarkatsishvili] and at the same time they don't seem to have more convincing [evidence]," Khutsishvili said. "That means the state is in the process of building a case when it's not legitimate in the eyes of society."

The prosecutor's office has 30 days to officially charge Patarkatsishvili, or it will have to end the investigation, stated lawyer Mari Japaridze of the legal defense non-governmental organization Article 42.

Prosecutors have not yet stated when the investigation into Patarkatsishvili officially began. However, recent statements by Saakashvili do not suggest that the queries will be ending soon. "Evil in Georgia has a name and a surname," Saakashvili told a crowd of supporters on November 17 in the eastern region of Kakheti. "I want to tell you about this evil. If you spend $1 billion, you will not succeed; if you try to buy the Georgian people, you will not succeed; if you try to deceive Georgians through your factory of lies, you will not succeed," he said.

Meanwhile, the Georgian leader appears to be taking steps to suggest that he is open to change. The nomination of Bank of Georgia head Lado Gurgenidze as prime minister on November 16 has been followed by promises that social welfare will feature more prominently in the government's agenda.

The cabinet shake-ups continued on November 19 with the nomination of the current education minister, Alexander Lomaia, to take over the National Security Council. Gia Kheviashvili, the minister for refugees and accommodation, will also lose his seat, according to Georgian media reports. A deputy will replace Lomaia at the education ministry; a Tbilisi city government department head will take over from Kheviashvili.

Suggesting his confidence in the vote's outcome, the president has promised more cabinet changes after the presidential elections on January 5.