Hello.
We are asking for your help in immediately addressing a serious attack on the freedom of the press in the Republic of Georgia, involving the
ransacking of an independent television station and death threats against a journalist by police officials. These attacks appear to be in response to investigative reporting exposing police corruption.
We have confirmed that on Sept. 27, police officers led an attack on the Odishi television station in the city of Zugdidi, in the Republic of Georgia's Samegrelo province. According to station employees, more than two dozen officers destroyed cameras, computers and broadcast equipment, and beat several of the journalists and camera operators. Staffers identified the leaders of the group as Robert Chikobava, deputy chief of the provincial police, and Beglar Ponia, a deputy chief of the Zugdidi district police force. Odishi director Levan Kobalia also identified Elguja Jamburia, regional police chief, as involved in the attack.Four police officers then went to the house of journalist Ema Gogokhia.
Ms. Gogokhia is a Zugdidi-based correspondent for the Rustavi 2 independent television station, based in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. The Odishi station had been cooperating with Ms. Gogokhia and Rustavi 2 on an investigative report for Rustavi 2's news program "60 Minutes." Failing to find Ms.Gogokhia at home, police officers beat her mother and her ten-year-old son, according to witnesses. Police tried to take the boy away, but were prevented from doing so by a large group of neighbors. According to several of those neighbors, the police then told the mother they would send her Gogokhia's head. Gogokhia said that Mr. Chikobava threatened to kill her and her family if the story on which she'd been working aired, saying that unlike in the case of Giorgi Sanaia (a Rustavi 2 journalist murdered last fall), her body
would never be found. Nevertheless, Rustavi 2 aired the program on Sept. 29. Among other allegations, it linked Mr. Ponia, the Zugdidi deputy chief, to a fuel smuggling operation. Ms. Gogokhia and her family have fled Zugdidi and are now in hiding. Deputy Chief Ponia and Chief Jamburia, reached by phone, denied knowing Ms. Gogokhia, denied police involvement in the Odishi raid, and denied any knowledge of any threats. Separately, in a press conference on Sept. 29, Chief Jamburia said the attack on the Odishi station was carried out by family members of Chimon Marmania, a policeman murdered last June. He said these people were angered by reports the station aired questioning the
guilt of a suspect police recently arrested for that murder. However, given the variety of witnesses who identified police as leading
the attack, we consider these denials unpersuasive. We are asking your organization to please send a protest as soon aspossible to Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia, decrying these attacks, and asking for a full investigation of police involvement in these events, and appropriate actions against all police officials involved. We also ask you to fax copies to: Tedo Japaridze, Secretary of the National Security Council, at (995 32) 98-99-72 Koba Narchemashvili, Minister of Interior (which oversees all police forces in Georgia), at (995 32) 99-92-80 Mr. Bondo Jikia, President's Representative in Samegrelo, at (995 21) 55-05-05.
Please email me if you have any questions or need additional information.
Thanks and regards,
Bob Ortega
 ______________________
Robert Ortega
Program Director
ICFJ/ProMedia II
74 Chavchavadze Ave., 6th Floor
SKMP Building
Tbilisi, Georgia 380062
Tel. (995 32) 25-38-73
Fax (995 32) 25-38-72
Mobile (995 99) 15-32-47