Georgia jails prominent critical journalist
Georgia on Monday jailed for three and a half years a prominent journalist and owner of the country’s most popular television station critical of the Black Sea nation’s government. Nika Gvaramia, an anchor and owner of the pro-opposition Mtavari TV, was found guilty of harming financial interests of a television station he had earlier run, a judge of the Tbilisi city court said. Gvaramia has also been a lawyer of Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili who is serving a six-year jail term for abuse of power — a conviction he has denounced as politically-motivated. Gvaramia has said his case was aimed at silencing critical media. His lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili said that the verdict was illegal, adding that “Gvaramia was taken into political captivity.” “Political repressions are under way in Georgia,” he said. “In democratic countries, journalists are not jailed for their dissenting views.” Georgia’s prominent TV personalities and managers have long accused the ruling Georgian Dr...