Georgia: Imedi is silent

Court revokes license from opposition TV channel

The Georgian authorities have lifted the state of emergency. On November 22, President Saakashvili is due to resign, and the struggle for the presidency will begin in Georgia. Elections are scheduled for January 5th. However, the opposition channel Imedi remains silent. By decision of the Tbilisi court, the company's license was taken away. Bidzina Baratashvili, director general of the TV company, spoke about the fate of Imedi in an interview with The New Times

Bidzina Baratashvili - Natalia Gevorkyan

Bidzina Baratashvili was summoned to the investigator of the Georgian Prosecutor General's Office six days after the closing of the channel (it happened, we recall, on November 7). Prior to this, the authorities did not attempt to communicate with Imedi.

Did you meet with the investigator at your request or on his initiative?
I got a call from the investigator who is in charge of the Badri case (Patarkatsishvili. - The New Times), and as far as the TV company is concerned, they are considering together with the Badri case.

Do you mean the coup attempt case that Patarkatsishvili is accused of?
Yes.

And what does Imedi have to do with it?
The investigator gave me a court order dated 7 November. There are three pages of text. Here is what is written on the third page: “Arkady Patarkatsishvili, as a participant in the conspiracy, on November 7, on the air of the television company he actually controls, made a statement that contributed to further tension in an already tense situation. In this regard, a case was initiated against him under the article on an attempt to overthrow the government by force, ”and so on ... In general, all statements, I will explain, were broadcast by all channels, and all of them were taken from news agencies.

The case was initiated against Patarkatsishvili, not against Imedi…
While they are telling us that they seized Badri's property, and since the TV company belongs to Badri and the license belongs to Badri, now everything is arrested and sealed. They don't directly accuse us of anything.

And what does it say about News Corporation (NC) on these three pages? ¹
Doesn't show up at all. Does not exist. They tried to verbally explain to us that News Corporation is all fiction. I say again: this is the first official document that I hold in my hands. Everything else has some verbal forms ...

Perhaps the agreements between NC and Badri Patarkatsishvili also had a verbal form, which gave the investigator the right to assert that the presence of NC in Imedi was a fiction?
No. On October 31, Martin Pompadour, one of the leaders of News Corporation, came to Tbilisi. A document was drawn up, according to which Badri transferred 100% of management to NC, that is, management with the right to make decisions. For a year, all Badri's shares were transferred to NC with the right to prolong if Badri remains in politics. NC representative Lewis Robertson is constantly working in Tbilisi, he is also the president of News Media Caucases, which also deals with NC projects in the territory of the former USSR. And he is the general director of the Imedi television and radio corporation.

That is, at the time of the closure, Imedi was a company that was 100% controlled by News Corporation, and this is documented?
Yes. There was a press conference, everything was officially announced, and the document was registered in the official register. Moreover, Badri motivated this step by the fact that he is starting to support the opposition and does not want the channel to be somehow associated with his political position, the channel should remain free and independent. The stalemate of the situation lies in the fact that we meet with foreigners, with the American ambassador, everyone recognizes NC as one of the co-owners of Imedi, but in the official document that I saw, NC does not seem to exist, its presence is completely ignored. Only the “property of Badri”…

Well, this is, in fact, understandable: Badri Patarkatsishvili's property can be seized in connection with a criminal case, but NC's property seems to have nothing to do with it. As a result, even after the state of emergency is lifted in Georgia, will Imedi still not be able to work?
We can't - without a license and with sealed property. Of course, we have 72 hours by law to appeal against the decision presented to us. We will do this, then the document will go through the authorities. I have a feeling that the authorities are just playing for time.

What is the state of the company now? If the situation were different, could you, conditionally, go on the air tomorrow?
I have no idea what is there now. I was there for the last time on November 7th.

Are they not allowed?
They don't let me. And even after the EU delegation was allowed in, it is difficult to understand something. Our request was to let the technical director or me in to see what was there and in what condition. Let the Europeans in. What can they say? First, everything was removed there, of course. It took three days to clean up. Removed all these video cassettes that were damaged, broken video equipment - all this was taken out somewhere on trucks. You understand what an ignorant person sees when he enters, for example, the control room. There are ten computers there, but the person does not know how many there were, whether they were the same computers. But clean around.

That is, people enter and see a clean room, there are computers and cameras - everything seems to be outwardly good. And you do not know how much and what equipment was damaged?
Don't know. And what impression did the Europeans have? They said that this does not happen... Are Murdoch's representatives allowed there? No, no one is allowed. What will happen next? We hired the best local lawyers, NC operates through its own channels in America and England. There are also lawyers. We will coordinate our actions, of course. But all this takes time. I'm not sure that the channel will go on the air after the elections. We are not needed. But will this affect the legitimacy of the elections? All the foreigners I meet here, and I don't think I've ever talked to so many foreigners in my life, say with one voice: the channel should broadcast. He should, but it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't broadcast. Nothing can affect the power? At least for today's government ... What is the state of your guys? So they get up in the morning and what do they do? We are dating. You know, I could never, by any means, have been able to rally the team as well as all these circumstances did. Now everything is on the rise. They made heroes out of us. You have no idea what's going on! People stop us on the street, ask what, how... I don't know how long it will last, but today we are the main topic. Taxi drivers don't take money from us. Cigarettes are not sold to us, but given away. Such is life now, a complete freebie. How do co-workers behave? We are all morally supported. And they understand that if they crash with us, then they can do it with them. Support is complete. Everyone saved face.

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On November 7 at 15:00, when police and protesters clashed on Rike Square in Tbilisi, the host of the Imedi TV channel broadcast live the statement of the founder and owner of the channel, Badri Patarkatsishvili:
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“I, like millions of Georgians, until the last moment naively thought that the authorities would not dare to fight against their people. I did my best to find a compromise. The oppositionists for a long time did not succumb to any provocation of the authorities and did not commit a single illegal action. This is what angered the distraught Saakashvili, Bokeria, Merabishvili - all those who managed to put us to sleep with their fairy tales that they are democrats. Saakashvili's power turned out to be criminal. Today, in front of the eyes of all Georgia, the whole world, the government has lost its legitimacy. Saakashvili's regime has shown that it is no different from the communist one, whose soldiers split the heads of our citizens with sapper shovels on April 9, 1989 in the same place. Now we know what the Saakashvili government is spending people's money on - to equip punitive police battalions and special forces to cripple their own hungry people. That is why they are especially concerned about those who spend their money to equip our land, our cities. But the free voice of the people, television not subordinated to the authorities, the Imedi company, causes particular anger of the criminal authorities. I am infinitely grateful to all honest journalists, especially the courageous journalists of Imedi, for opening the eyes of the people of Georgia, the whole world to the crimes of the Saakashvili regime. It is symbolic that on November 7, 90 years after the Bolshevik coup, Georgia is experiencing a new tragedy. Let no one doubt that I will spend all my strength and means on the liberation of Georgia from the fascist regime!”

_______________________________________________ The New Times appealed to the Tbilisi City Court, which revoked the broadcasting license and seized the property of the Imedi TV channel, with a request to comment on this decision. The press service of the court reported the following:
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“The Imedi TV company was used as the main means for organizing those actions that took on an uncontrolled character, created mass riots in the capital and a real threat of overthrowing the government by force. Suspected of committing a crime in accordance with Part 1 of Article 315 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (“conspiracy to overthrow the constitutional order”) is Arkady Patarkatsishvili. As a participant in the conspiracy, on November 7, the founder of the television company made a statement through the Imedi TV channel, which he actually controlled, which, against the backdrop of a tense situation, created an immediate and real threat of an even greater escalation of the situation and the overthrow of state power, which was an incitement to greater intensification of mass riots,” the court said in a statement.

Lewis Robertson, News Corporation (NC) Spokesman - The New Times

Does News Corporation fully control Imedi TV?
This is true. Badri transferred all rights to us, except for the right to sell.

If the court seizes the company's property and broadcast license, does it have to do with NC?
For all 100%.

Does the court consider the company and the broadcasting license to be the property of Badri Patarkatsishvili, despite the fact that the company has been transferred to management?
Quite right. This is the mode of argument they have now chosen.

What kind of argument did you choose?
We say that our lawyer will prepare a response to the court decision, which will reflect the position of the corporation. And let's see what happens next. We will challenge the decision preventing the resumption of the work of the TV company.

Imedi will not be able to go on the air after the state of emergency is lifted on November 16?
This is my understanding of the current situation. I want to note that maybe we are being tapped, and you should understand this.

Can it be written like this?
Yes.

What does Mr. Murdoch think about the closure of Imedi?
Mr. Murdoch is preparing a letter to the US President and Secretary of State, in which he will express his protest about what is happening.

When can Imedi start working?
If it were up to us, we could start going on the air very soon.

Even though some of the hardware might be damaged?
We have 6-7 TV stations in Eastern Europe, so we can go on the air as soon as we get permission.

That is, you use the capabilities of these TV stations to make Imedi go on the air?
Including. I would not like to go into details now. But as soon as we get permission, we will go on the air.

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1 Details of the deal between News Corporation and Badri Patarkatsishvili for the purchase of Imedi shares were not disclosed. Andrew Butcher, NC's senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, acknowledged that NC had bought less than 30% of the company, but declined to give exact numbers. Badri Patarkatsishvili is believed to own a controlling stake in the company. On November 3, as Georgian media reported, Patarkatsishvili transferred his shares to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation as a power of attorney.