By Molly Corso: 12/27/07

One day after the television station he founded announced it was temporarily going off the air, controversial Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili has withdrawn his candidacy from Georgia's presidential race. The decision follows widespread media speculation that Patarkatsishvili would opt for such a move after the release of audio and video recordings that the government alleges indicate that he was planning to stage a coup after the January 5 vote.

The announcement from Patarkatsishvili's press office came in the early evening on December 27, and details were not available. Recently appointed campaign manager Giorgi Zhvania, brother of the late Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, had announced on December 26 that he was flying to London to discuss, among other topics, the possibility of Patarkatsishvili pulling out of the election.

The decision comes one day after an announcement by Imedi television, established by Patarkatsishvili in 2002, that it would "take a pause" during the election campaign. The station returned to the air on December 12, more than a month after being shut down for alleged use by Patarkatsishvili as "a tool" in a supposed attempt to overthrow the administration of then President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Citing government pressure and political "dirty games," Director of Public and Political Programming Giorgi Targamadze announced during Imedi's December 26 evening broadcast that the station's journalists have been the "targets of pressure and blackmail by the authorities," especially since officials released secret video tapes this week, allegedly documenting Patarkatsishvili and his associates in the act of planning a coup for January 6. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.] Patarkatsishvili has denied any plans to illegally overthrow the government.

"We want to confirm that during the last month and a half, each of us, including our family members, have become the targets of pressure and blackmail by the authorities. During the past two days, the TV channels controlled by the authorities have created absolute hysteria that puts our staff under extremely difficult conditions," Targamadze said.

Imedi General Director Bidzina Baratishvili stated that the station management would use the time off to repair damage from the November 7 closure. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.] The future ownership of the station would be determined while Imedi was off the air, he said. Speculation has also run rife in recent weeks about whether Patarkatsishvili would sell his remaining shares in Imedi Media Holding, which oversees both Imedi televison and radio, to either News Corporation, which currently manages the company, or to the Georgian government.

According to Georgian media reports, at least six journalists from Imedi have left since the authorities released video footage on December 24 showing a discussion between former Patarkatsishvili campaign manager Valeri Gelbakhiani and Interior Ministery Special Operations chief Erekle Kodua about protests on January 6.

Levan Vapkhadze, a producer for Imedi's popular news magazine program Droeba (Times), would not tell EurasiaNet if he himself had felt or seen any signs of pressure from the authorities. "I will not comment on that," he said, adding that it would be "better" to ask those who had left.

"I will stay at Imedi if it resumes broadcasting," Vapkhadze said. "It is hard to say what will happen."

Ghia Nodia, a political scientist and member of a media monitoring group formed in the wake of Imedi's November closure, said that he believed the station's decision for a temporary closure had come in response to the number of journalists leaving Imedi for other stations.

Nodia argued that there was no sign of overt state pressure on Imedi since the station's news coverage of the government since its December 12 re-opening had been "critical."

"It was kind of calm, but it was critical so I did not see...any pressure," he said, adding that he "suspects" there might have been indirect pressure from officials who "encouraged" journalists to find other jobs.

Targamadze said that the station's closure was temporary and that Imedi would resume broadcasts after the January 5 election. "It does not mean shutting down the station; we are only temporarily suspending broadcasts. By doing so, we are distancing ourselves from dirty political games," he said.

However, opposition leaders like Davit Usupashvili worry that even a temporary closure will be too long. Usupashvili, a leader of the Republican Party which is one of the nine parties in the united opposition, told EurasiaNet that he is "concerned" that the remaining television stations will not give the opposition fair coverage before the elections. Other than Georgian Public Broadcasting, which is financed by the government, Georgia has two national broadcasters, Mze and Rustavi-2, which the opposition sees as biased towards the government.

"We are all very upset about this development," he said, noting that now the authorities are trying to connect the nine-party opposition coalition with Patarkatsishvili. "We will answer all possible questions...[but] we don't think we will get enough objective coverage of our arguments [on the remaining television stations]."

According to Nodia, election coverage to date has been fair.

"Objectively, of course, when Imedi is off the air it is a less pluralistic media," he said. "But if we measure how the election campaign has been covered by the media so far...mainly it is balanced."

Opposition parties attempted to distance themselves from Patarkatsishvili on Thursday after the government released new footage of the tycoon allegedly pledging to pay special operations chief Erekle Kodua $100 million to "neutralize" Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili on January 6.

While Patarkatsishvili has denied the allegations -- he maintains that the government edited the material to show him in a bad light - he has sworn to continue his fight against Saakashvili. After Imedi staff announced the station's temporary closure, he announced in a statement released by his press department that he would spare "no efforts to ensure this criminal regime doesn't prevail over the people."

Patarkatsishvili campaign manager Zhvania did not respond to requests for comment on the charges. Valeri Gelbakhiani, the former head of his campaign, has been named an official suspect and has reportedly fled the country. Another alleged accomplice, Marina Gabunia, a former judge, is currently in custody.

On Thursday, however, united opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze blasted both the government and Patarkatsishvili for Òdirty games.Ó

"This is a game aimed at putting an end to Georgia and we, the United National Movement [the nine-party opposition coalition], will never allow this to happen," he said during a press conference at his campaign headquarters in Tbilisi. He called supporters to join him in the historic square of Rike - where police forcibly broke up demonstrators on November 7 - on December 29 in a sign of solidarity.

However, the Republican Party's Usupashvili, a Gachechiladze supporter, noted that the new investigation will make any attempt to conduct meetings and protests look suspicious.

"Any protest action will be tied to the provocations from Partakatsishvili's camp," he said. "We are ready for this, but at the same time having Imedi and having the access to media would be essential to this problem as well."

He denied any connection between the opposition coalition and Patarkatsishvili's alleged plans.

"What happened to Patarkatsishvili I don't know...but generally the phrases which Patarkatsishvili was talking...if those were part of a real plan, I believe that is wrong," he said. "We did have consultations and negotiations about his participation in the elections...if it was possible to unite our efforts [which] would mean him dropping from the race."

To date, the government has not officially named Patarkatsishvili a suspect in its investigations into the alleged coup attempt. Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili told EurasiaNet before Patarkatsishvili's announcement that the prosecutor general's office will have to inform the CEC of any plans "to either arrest or detain Patarkatsishvili," which it has not done.

Noone from the general prosecutor's office was available for comment.

In a statement to journalists Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said that, despite the video footage and investigation, Patarkatsishvili "enjoys" the same status as the other six presidential candidates and "has the right" to continue his campaign.

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Editor's Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi.