The Ombudsman found a violation in the case of the dismissal of journalists from the Public Broadcaster

The non-governmental organization Transparency International Georgia (TIG) reported on October 31 that the Public Defender’s Office “found a significant violation” in the case of Imeda Darsalia, Sofio Zedelashvili and Tamta Dzhanadze, who were fired from the First Channel of the Georgian Public Broadcaster, “and appealed to the broadcaster demanding their reinstatement.”

On April 29, 2022, the former host of the weekly program “Akhali kvira” of the First Channel of the Public Broadcasting Group and journalists Sophio Zedelashvili and Tamta Dzhanadze were fired from their jobs. Before that, they accused the broadcaster of attempting censorship. On March 25, at a press conference at the office of Transparency International, Imeda Darsalia stated that Channel One tried to block stories related to Russia and the Soviet Union. A black list of respondents was also drawn up, with whom journalists were not supposed to communicate.

The organization also explained that after studying the materials of the case, the Office of the Ombudsman turned to the Public Broadcaster with a recommendation to invalidate the orders to dismiss these journalists and “apply to each of them an appropriate restitution measure provided for by the Labor Code of Georgia.”

“The public broadcaster must notify the Public Defender’s Office of the measures taken within the 20-day period established by law,” Transparency International noted, adding that the organization defends the rights of those journalists who are “illegally dismissed” from the broadcaster, who accused the television of trying to censorship and the presence of a “black list” of respondents.