Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009europe and central asia: georgiaJournalists also cited growing politicization in the influential public broadcaster,Croatian Radio and Television (HRT), which provided generally favorablecoverage to the HDZ while sidelining prominent journalists who had criticizedthe government. HRT executives defended their editorial policies, insisting thatthey were reporting on political issues of “high public interest,” the state newsagency HINA reported. The Croatian Journalists’ Association criticized HRTin July for broadcasting a 50-minute speech by Sanader at an HDZ convention,saying it showed political favoritism and violated the Law on Electronic Media,HINA reported. Srecko Jurdan, a columnist for Nacional, termed the process the“HDZ-ization” of the private and public media. In November, HRT executivessuspended Ana Jelinic, editor of the news program “Dossier,” claiming that its reportingon alleged government corruption was too speculative, according to localand international news reports.GEORGIAWhile no journalists were killed or imprisoned in georgia in 2009,press freedom in this small South Caucasus nation stagnated due to persistentstate manipulation of news media, particularly television broadcasting. Ina speech before the U.N. General Assembly in September, President MikhailSaakashvili boasted of Georgia’s media pluralism, stating that the country has“27 TV stations.” He failed to mention that most stations have little reach and,notably, that his government and its allies have long sought to control televisionnews content, most recently through aggressive efforts to obstruct the cable affiliatesof a station aligned with a leading opponent.Saakashvili had enjoyed strong support from the administration of U.S.President George W. Bush, but his government’s ongoing media manipulationeroded his reputation as a democracy builder. During a visit to Georgia in July,U.S. Vice President Josepht o p developments»»TV news politicized due to governmentmanipulation.»»Opposition-aligned broadcasterobstructed.7key statisticPercent of Internet penetrationnationwide.Biden urged Saakashvili tomake his government moretransparent and accountableby fostering independent andprofessional media. In an Octoberinterview with the newsagency GHN, Lasha Tugushi,editor of the independentTbilisi-based daily Rezonansi,said he believed press freedomwas declining. “There are no more [national] television debates and discussions,the information programs are worse, and property rights are not regulated anddefended,” Tugushi said, referring to the government’s continued encroachmenton privately owned media corporations.The broad contours of the government’s years-long efforts to control nationaltelevision content are well-documented. The television station Rustavi 2—oncethe flagship of the democratic movement—rested solidly in pro-government handsin 2009. Authorities first gained control of the station in 2004 through the originalowner’s coerced sale to a defense official, then in 2006 through a complicated seriesof buyouts by government loyalists. Critical coverage was eventually scrubbed onRustavi 2, which ultimately merged with another formerly independent televisionstation, Mze, under the direction of parliamentary member David Bezhuashvili, aSaakashvili ally. The next venture in free media, Imedi TV, weathered an attemptedtakeover by police in 2007 over its allegations of government complicity in assassinations.But it lost its independence in 2008 after owner Badri Patarkatsishviliwas pressured to give up his shares and flee abroad, where he died of a heart attack.His distant cousin, Georgian-American businessman Joseph Kay, gained control ofthe station after persuading a Tbilisi court to uphold his management rights. Thestation took a pro-presidential stance.In 2009, Maestro TV, a two-year-old satellite station featuring news and entertainment,faced government obstruction as it sought to widen its audience.Maestro had obtained government permission in late 2008 to rebroadcast itsprogramming on dozens of local cable affiliates, an important step in broadeningits reach since few Georgian viewers have satellite dishes. Although privatelyowned, Maestro TV was aligned editorially with opposition leader and formerParliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, and featured programming such as“Cell Number Five,” a talk show in which journalists and politicians vented frustrationwith Saakashvili.The Georgian National Communications Commission pushed back in 2009.The agency pressured several local cable affiliates to halt their rebroadcasts ofMaestro, going as far as closing some of the stations temporarily for unspecified“technical reasons.” Maestro faced violence as well. In May, unidentified assailantsset off a grenade at the station’s offices, blasting out windows and damaging adoor but causing no injuries. The station continued operations. Maestro’s founderand general director, Mamuka Glonti, said he believed the blast was intendedto prevent the station from airing a program about the 2006 slaying of bankerSandro Girgvliani, the U.S. government-funded Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europereported. The banker was found murdered shortly after an argument in aTbilisi bar with three senior Interior Ministry officials.A critical European Union fact-finding report on the August 2008 armed176177