"Rustavi-2" stops news releases

After the dismissal of the leader and two presenters, the news programme "Courier" has stopped broadcasting on the Georgian "Rustavi-2" TV Company. It became clear to the authors that the channel fell under the control of the ruling party, said Mikheil Sesiashvili, one of those who have quitted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 20, Nodar Meladze, the head of the "Rustavi-2" news service, was dismissed; he was followed by Mikheil Sesiashvili, the head of the "Courier" programme, and Diana Djodjua. Paata Saliya, Director General of the TV Company explained this by "the damage caused by them to the company," and promised to fire several more employees.

After in the evening on August 20, the presenters of the "Courier" information program, instead of holding the summing-up release, said goodbye to the audience live on air, the programme stopped broadcasting. "The audience will learn more from our website, "the company's official website said.

According to a source from the "Rustavi-2", in the morning on August 21, Paata Saliya, Director General, came to the company's office and tried to negotiate with journalists about the start of timely work.

Mikheil Sesiashvili pointed out that until August 20, the company's bosses had promised not to fire anyone except Nika Gvaramiya and Giorgi Gabuniya. "After the journalists were dismissed, it became clear to us that no agreements would be respected; it would be a TV Company controlled by the ruling party. I don't see myself in such a company, therefore, I decided to quit it," Mr Sesiashvili told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 21, 2019 at 08:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.