The Prosecutor's Office accuses Vitali Guguchia, the owner of a grocery store in Tbilisi and an opponent of the Russian Law, of obstructing a journalist from the government's propaganda TV channel POSTV in their professional activities.
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Guguchia links the initiation of the criminal case to an incident that occurred in his shop two months ago, involving Viktor Japaridze, a member of the parliamentary majority. Japaridze owns a 52% share of POSTV.
On May 28, after Viktor Japaridze left the parliament following his vote in favor of the Russian Law, a citizen called him a "slave" on the street. The deputy jumped out of his car, grabbed an orange from Guguchia's store counter, and threw it at the citizen. The incident was captured on video and garnered many views on social media. The next day, Viktor Japaridze returned to the store to apologize and compensate for the loss. "The orange is not the issue; you've taken away our children's future," Vitali Guguchia's wife, Miranda Jobava, told him.
On July 31, at Vitali Guguchia's house in the village of Kakhati, Zugdidi Municipality, POSTV journalist Natia Beridze called him "Zonder," "Megi Kardava's puppet boy," and "with pants down" in the presence of his wife and four young children. Vitali Guguchia asked Natia Beridze and her accompanying cameramen to leave. The verbal confrontation escalated into physical violence when the cameraman from the propaganda TV channel attempted to physically assault Guguchia and his family members.
"Vitali Guguchia, an opponent of the editorial policy of the TV company POSTV,' expressed verbal aggression towards the journalist and cameraman, after which he physically assaulted the cameraman. As a result, the media representatives were unable to carry out their professional activities at the scene," the prosecutor's office stated.
As Vitali Guguchia says, the employees of POSTV came to provoke him.
"Because they couldn't discredit me in any other way, I responded with harsh words to the provocations and accusations they made in front of my family and young children. The cameraman lowered the camera (as they couldn't leave without completing their task) and taunted me like an old boy, saying, 'Come here, boy.' I waved him away and told him to leave. I don't know if that constitutes violence. Before that, I had warned them to leave my house. After I waved, he dropped the camera and walked toward me. In the footage, it's clear that he was taunting and pushing me.
It seems that Viktor Japaridze is trying to intimidate me first through agents of the Security Service, and now through the investigative bodies. I can't say if this is solely his initiative. Viktor Japaridze's television channel was shut down, and my dialogue with him became a trigger that upset the entire Georgian Dream party. Now, none of the 84 MPs can move about freely, and the system is working against me," said Guguchia.
He was charged under the first part of Article 126 of the Criminal Code (beating that caused physical pain) and the first part of Article 154 of the Criminal Code (illegally obstructing a journalist in their professional activities). The crime is punishable by up to one year of imprisonment.
The Prosecutor's Office is requesting bail as a preventive measure for Vitali Guguchia. The Zugdidi District Court will discuss this issue tomorrow, August 6.
