Guram Rogava, a journalist for the TV company Formula, was attacked by riot police while covering the crackdown on a protest at dawn. According to a doctor at the Ingorokva clinic, he has suffered fractures to the facial bones and the seventh cervical vertebra.
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“The neck is immobilized. It has been examined by both a maxillofacial surgeon and a neurosurgeon. At the moment, no surgical intervention is required. His condition is currently stable,” the doctor told journalists.
Guram Rogava was working on Rustaveli Avenue, covering the violent detention of protesters by riot police live on air when one of the helmeted officers approached him and struck him. The blow was so forceful that the journalist fell to the ground.
“This person will not be identified, and we won’t know who attacked me. These people had the green light to do exactly what they did to me. Most importantly, they knew I was a journalist – I was reporting and holding a microphone… I hit something hard, and I don’t know what it did to my hand,” Guram Rogava said during a broadcast of “Formula” from the clinic.
On the night of November 28-29, at least 20 journalists were injured during the dispersal of a protest rally near the parliament. Journalists from both TV companies and online media were affected. The Public Defender reported an instance of mistreatment involving three journalists.
The riot police began dispersing the peaceful protest rally at around 2 a.m., using special forces, including water cannons and so-called pepper spray, against the demonstrators. According to the Public Defender, the Ministry of Internal Affairs violated the freedom of assembly, as the demonstration was peaceful when special means were used to disperse the crowd.
“The video footage and the information disseminated clearly show numerous episodes of the unwarranted use of special means against protesters, including politicians, journalists, and detainees, as well as cases of alleged unjustified detentions, direct intent to commit violence, and deliberate persecution during the dispersal of the peaceful demonstration,” the Public Defender’s statement reads.
43 people were administratively detained at the demonstration on charges of disobeying a police officer’s order and petty hooliganism. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has also launched an investigation under two articles of the Criminal Code: Article 353, which addresses an attack on a police officer or a public institution, and the second part of Article 187, concerning the destruction or damage of another person’s property by fire, explosion, or other dangerous means, committed repeatedly and in a group.
