Georgia: Sozar Subari demands to initiate a case on the fact of pogrom at "Imedi"

Sozar Subari, Ombudsman of Georgia, has informed today that he demands to initiate a criminal case on the fact of pogrom of the oppositional "Imedi" TV Company.

According to the decision of the Tbilisi City Court, on December 7 the court order came into force on lifting the arrest away from the "TeleImedi" Limited Liability Company (LLC). At night of December 7, the managers of the TV Company, advocates, technicians and international observers could enter the building and examine the technical condition of the TV Company.

According to Sozar Subari who also examined the studio, "the TV Company is in an awful condition - most of the equipment was destroyed, including video cameras, monitors, microphones and so on. In general, quite a lot of things disappeared."

"It is necessary to initiate a criminal case and to make responsible those who on November 7 made a pogrom in the premises of the TV Company, put a physical and verbal affront to the "Imedi", and those who commanded them," Mr Subari has stated. He thinks that the judge of the Tbilisi City Court who had signed the order to arrest the property of the "TeleImedi" should be also brought to responsibility.

"First of all, there were no grounds to issue the arrest sanction, and secondly, documents were falsified. On November 7, the court made no order to arrest the 'Imedi' property. It was done later, and the documents were issued post factum. In this connection, I'm going to address the Supreme Justice Board and raise the issue of the judge's responsibility," the Ombudsman has added.

According to the "Interfax", the managers of the "Imedi" TV Company have stated, after surveying the premises, that it might take up to 10 days to restore broadcasting.