On the night of May 10, Nodar Meladze, TV Pirveli information service head, reported that suspicious cars with masked individuals had been observed at the station's entrance and in its yard. Meladze expressed concern, noting that these individuals posed a potential threat not only to the station's staff but also to their guests.
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To address the immediate threat, Meladze reached out to the Internal Affairs Ministry, made five calls to 112, and contacted Keti Kovziashvili, the Internal Affairs Ministry Strategic Communications Department head. However, the police did not respond to the call and arrived at the scene.
"After waiting for five hours, the police did not arrive. The Internal Affairs Minister did not respond to the presence of masked individuals near the TV First building. Despite our message highlighting the threat of an attack, the police failed to take notice. We made several attempts to contact 112, including a live call, but the team we reached did not respond.
They told us that the message had been relayed to the law enforcement agency, yet the police did not arrive. This is direct evidence implicating the government in the persecution, beatings, and ambushes of people.
To address the situation, the TV company reached out to the Special Investigation Service, tasked with investigating illegal interference in journalistic activities. Investigators from the Service arrived at the scene later and conducted interviews with the employees.
On May 8-9, unidentified individuals attacked and physically assaulted Boris Chele Kurua, the opposition Girchi - More Freedom member and Nodar Chachanidze, a member of Ahali. The activist Lasha Gvinianidze, international relations specialist Gia Japaridze, National Movement member Dimitri Chikovani, and musician Gio Shengelia were also targeted. Prior to these incidents, on May 3, 5, and 7, participants in a protest against the Russian Law in Tbilisi were attacked, including a teacher from Lanchkhuti Lado Abkhazava and his son. Giorgi Klidiashvili director of the non-governmental organization Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information in Tbilisi, and the camera crew of Formula. All those attacked are opposed to the Russian Law.
On April 3, 2024, Georgian Dream once again introduced the Russian Law on so-called Foreign Agents in parliament, a bill that had been withdrawn a year prior due to widespread protests, with the party promising not to reintroduce it. The Russian Law requires independent media and non-governmental organizations operating with grant support from international funds, which cannot be controlled by the government or related groups, to register as foreign agents. Mass protests against the Russian Law have been ongoing in Tbilisi since April 15. Georgian Dream has already passed the bill in two readings, with the final hearing scheduled for the week of May 13.
