Georgia
From the Communiqué
13 November 2007
Regional and international press freedom groups are demanding that the Georgian government immediately restore all news broadcasts and lift a state of emergency imposed after police violently broke up anti-government protests in the capital last week.
17 July 2007
Access to comprehensive and accurate information increases people's sense of safety while the lack of reliable information fuels insecurity, an ARTICLE 19 report on post-conflict societies has found.
20 April 2005
ARTICLE 19 has published a new report highlighting the need for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to implement laws enabling the media and citizens to better access public information. The report assesses media laws and media ownership in each country and concludes that media in all three countries face significant barriers in accessing government information.
10 March 2004
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on 5 March, 2004, that Vakhtang Komakhidze, a reporter for the "60 Minutes" programme on independent television station Rustavi-2, was brutally attacked that day in the autonomous republic of Ajaria in southern Georgia.
18 February 2003
Harassment and physical attacks against journalists, and a government proposal to stiffen penalties for the defamation of public officials, are giving rise to serious concern about press freedom in Georgia, says a new report released by the Council of Europe.
6 November 2001
Street protests have gripped Georgia's capital Tbilisi, following an attempt by authorities to shut down the offices of independent television station Rustavi-2, report the Journalists Trade Union (JuHI), Index on Censorship (INDEX), the International Press Institute (IPI), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). According to IPI, on 31 October, officials from the Ministry of Security attempted a raid on the offices of Rustavi-2. They were thwarted by a crowd of several hundred demonstrators who prevented them from entering the premises. CPJ says ministry officials claimed that the station had been avoiding payment of approximately 1 million laris (US$480,000) in taxes, though Rustavi-2 staff say officials conducted a tax audit a week ago and found no irregularities.