Nodar Meladze, head of the information service of TV channel Pirveli, claims his car was robbed last night in the center of Tbilisi. According to the journalist, an external memory card, which he used for professional activities, was taken.
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“It was an attempt to intimidate me as a journalist by simulating a robbery because had it been an ordinary robbery, they would have taken valuables from the car. My watch, the kid's watch, glasses, personal items, stuff everyone keeps in their cars, but everything is still there, nothing is missing. Only an external memory card was taken, a work one, which I used as a journalist to transfer and download material. They were interested in the documents that I had in the storage box, the papers were thrown around and scattered as if they were looking for some specific document. The headphones, which I had with the external memory card, were also taken,” said Meladze.
According to his statement, the incident happened last night, between 12:00 and 3:00. The car was parked on Kote Abkhazi Street.
Nodar Meladze relates the incident to his professional activities and recalls the threat of Vato Shakarishvili, the leader of the Georgia First movement, which he made after the attack on Misha Mshvildadze, one of the founders of TV Formula, that he would be the next target of attack.
“It started with verbal threats of attack on me. Koka Katsitadze's agency [Special Investigation Service], which is skilled in shelving cases, has been investigating this case for two weeks, and there have been no updates for me as a victim. Now they have taken action and there was an attempt to intimidate by staging a robbery,” says Meladze.
Police officers worked the scene last night. Nodar Meladze has been summoned for questioning today.
One of the founders of TV Formula was attacked in Tbilisi on June 27. Misha Msvildadze was walking on the street. He was beaten and injured. The attack was captured by surveillance cameras. “I beat him because he refers to the church as a criminal, says that the cross is a symbol of violence, swears at the patriarch, Georgian nation, and protects homosexuals, also, insults me and my friends from Facebook. I am not going to hide,” wrote citizen Nikoloz Gugeshashvili on a social network the day after the crime. Citizen Soso Maisuradze, who on June 17 attacked the leader of the opposition party Girchi - More Freedom Zurab Japaridze, also confessed to his crime using identical form and wording. Gugeshashvili, who was arrested on charges of assaulting Msvildadze, was sentenced to pre-trial detention, however, TV Formula claims, based on the video footage of the crime, that the attack was organized by the State Security Service, and the investigator of the agency, Giorgi Mumladze, was involved.
Crimes Against Critical Media Increased 4 Times – Violence Encouraged by Georgian Dream
