Public Defender's Office of Georgia Condemns Removal of Journalists from Georgian Public Broadcaster

On October 31, the Public Defender's Office of Georgia condemned Imeda Darsalia, Sofio Zedelashvili, and Tamta Janadze's removal from the Georgian Public Broadcaster. It demanded that they be returned to their positions.

The information was released by Transparency International Georgia (TIG), which also declared that it was standing up for the journalists who were illegally sacked and who exposed the TV channels' censorship attempts and the existence of a blacklist of commentators. According to the organization, the Public Defender's Office was contacted by the Court and requested to do a legal analysis of the three journalists' termination from the public broadcaster's "Akhali Kvira" (New Week) show.

When Darsalia, Zedelashvili, and Janadze convened a conference in March 2022 to accuse the Georgian Public Broadcaster of meddling and suppressing their work at the show, the TV show had already been off the air since December 2021. During the briefing, Darsalia said that the network's management had attempted to halt reports that were critical of the Soviet Union and Russia and ban pundits from the program.

Meeting between US Ambassador to Georgia and Georgian Foreign Minister

On October 31, Kelly Degnan, the US Ambassador to Georgia, and Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili met to go over the entire range of US-Georgia strategic cooperation, the Press Office of the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported.

The parties also discussed the security situation in the area. According to the Foreign Ministry, the US reiterated its support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The parties indicated a strong desire to work together to address any significant strategic partnership problems.