Georgian News Requests Special Investigation into Violence Incidents

"For the parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024, I worked in the first half of the day in the Kakheti region, specifically in the electoral districts of Akhmeta and Telavi, alongside the lawyer from our organization.

At around 11:00, we arrived in the village of Matani, Akhmeta district, to observe the voting process at the N11 polling station and to prepare journalistic material in case we detected any violations of the requirements established by the election code.

At the entrance of the school, where the polling station was located, there were coordinators and agitators from Georgian Dream who were registering voters, thereby violating the requirements of Article 45, Part 12 of the Election Code of Georgia. After I approached these unauthorized individuals and asked why they were registering voters, an aggressive man attacked me from behind and snatched the phone from my hand, which I intended to use to film the coordinators' actions and record their explanations. I was unable to photograph the first incident because my phone was taken away. The assailant did not return my phone and physically resisted me, expressing dissatisfaction with my work and insulting me with obscene language. I managed to retrieve my phone from him and attempted to establish his identity and clarify why he was in the area, during which he verbally and physically abused me. In particular, he pushed me on my phone several times and struck me on the head. At that moment, other aggressive individuals who had gathered in the area intervened, including an observer affiliated with Georgian Dream. They physically resisted me, restricted my movement, and unlawfully prevented me from performing my professional duties as a group. Even Giorgi Ekvtimishvili, the chairman of the precinct election commission, demanded that I stop filming in the schoolyard. One of the aggressive individuals spat on me and the lawyer. They continued to interfere until a stranger intervened and pulled them away. Even after leaving the schoolyard, the attacker, in the presence of others, insulted me with obscene language. I later learned that he is Georgian Dream activist Ilia Mamucharashvili.

Despite my two phone calls and messages to 112, the police did not arrive in the area during my time there. Unfortunately, due to security concerns, we were delayed for some time, but since it was evident that the police were not going to come in a timely manner, we left the polling station despite the risks of physical retribution.

They illegally interfered with my professional activities, verbally insulted me, and threatened me at the N16 polling station in the village of Kvemo Khodasheni in the Telavi electoral district, where we arrived around 2:30 p.m. after hearing that a journalist from TV Pirveli had been physically assaulted and that the video camera had been broken. I went to that area to find out what happened, photograph the scene, and prepare the material, but I was not given the opportunity to do so. After leaving the polling station, when I asked the people gathered there why they had mobilized at the entrance of the polling station and why they had physically assaulted the journalist, the same person who had broken the camera of the TV Pirveli photographer grabbed my hand and told me to follow him behind the school to "talk." The man was aggressive and clearly intoxicated, reeking of alcohol. When I told him to let go and that I wasn't going to follow him anywhere, he attempted to hit me in the face but missed because I moved quickly, and another person restrained him. Activists from Georgian Dream surrounded him, recognized me, and forced me to leave the polling station under the threat of bodily harm and mutilation. After exiting the schoolyard, I called 112 to report the incident and requested a police response. I waited at least 30 minutes on the central highway for the police, but once again, there was no result. No one arrived on the scene, after which I did not re-enter the area, could not continue my professional activities, and left Kvemo Khodasheni," writes journalist Gela Mtivlishvili in a statement.

As per Article 154 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, it is prohibited to illegally obstruct a journalist in their professional activities. Article 126 of the same code prohibits violence (such as beating or other forms of violence that inflict physical pain on the victim). Moreover, Articles 151 and 2391 of the Code prohibit threats and calls for violent actions in public.

Georgian News calls for the exposure and punishment of those responsible.