On February 27, 2025, Sulkhan Meskhiadze, editor of “Adjara Times,” was reporting live from the “Dream Town” neighborhood in Batumi, where heavy snowfall had caused a roof collapse in a residential building. During the live broadcast, an unidentified individual approached him from a distance, shouting threats and attempting to obstruct the filming.
At that moment, another citizen intervened in defense of the journalist. The assailant backed away and fled the scene.
Despite the incident, Sulkhan Meskhiadze continued the live coverage and thanked the citizen for their support.
This is not the first time “Adjara Times” has faced interference while carrying out its professional duties.
The Media Advocacy Coalition has responded to the incident.
On February 27, 2025, the Mayor of Akhaltsikhe, Irakli Lazarishvili, called “TOK TV” journalist Misho Darbaidze a “pest” in response to critical questions.
The incident occurred during a session of the Akhaltsikhe Municipal Council, where deputies were reviewing state procurements carried out in 2024. The journalist’s questions focused on non-transparent (direct) procurement procedures, which appeared to irritate the mayor. He accused Darbaidze of “gossiping” and attempted to discredit him.
On March 15, 2025, Mountain Stories founder and editor Gela Mtivlishvili wrote on social media that he and a companion were attacked by police officers.
“We were returning to Tbilisi when a white pickup truck with the license plate BJ-573-BB started following us. Since it was creating a dangerous situation on the road, we pulled over. An armed employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and another person jumped out of the truck. The armed officer was shouting, asking why I hadn’t let him pass, cursing, and threatening me. When I tried to record the incident, he attacked me, struck me three times, and tried to take my phone. Eyewitnesses recorded the attack on video. The armed man demanded they delete the footage as well,” Mtivlishvili stated.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Gela Mtivlishvili has been targeted in attacks allegedly linked to Georgian Dream.
On March 20, 2025, in the city of Batumi, Adjara Times director Sulkhan Meskhiadze and Public Broadcaster journalist Lia Toklikishvili — from the investigative program Investigative Reporter — were confronted by activists from the ruling party Georgian Dream while attempting to report on construction safety issues.
“I was filming in ‘Dream Town’ with the Public Broadcaster’s investigative team. Shortly after we arrived, several individuals approached and demanded we stop filming. They began obstructing us — verbally confronting us, and in some cases even using physical force. They tried to push us out of the area and prevent us from recording footage,” Sulkhan Meskhiadze told Batumelebi.
The Media Advocacy Coalition responded to the incident, stating:
“These attacks on the media are part of a broader policy by Georgian Dream aimed at silencing critical voices and restricting the free flow of information. The regime’s hostile rhetoric against the media, combined with the inaction of law enforcement, creates an environment where violence against journalists goes unpunished.”
This is not the first time that media representatives in Batumi’s “Dream Town” have been unlawfully obstructed by Georgian Dream activists or their affiliates while carrying out their professional duties.
On March 27, 2025, the propagandist TV channel Imedi spread disinformation targeting critically-minded journalists from the Georgian Public Broadcaster — Nino Zautashvili and Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani — accusing them of receiving “illicit income.”
Imedi also accused other critically-inclined journalists from the Public Broadcaster — Guranda Goginashvili, Tukha Kvinikadze, and Tamar Mshvenieradze — of the same. These journalists are part of the program Real Space, hosted by Nino Zautashvili.
The initial report by Imedi claimed that Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani’s wife owned an advertising company. Chikovani responded to the disinformation on social media, accusing the TV station of spreading lies.
Imedi later deleted the information about Chikovani and admitted that they had mistaken the journalist’s wife for another individual. However, the accusations against Nino Zautashvili remain accessible.
It is worth noting that the accusations of “illicit income” against the critically-minded journalists coincided with threats of legal action from the Public Broadcaster’s board of trustees, which is linked to the ruling party Georgian Dream. On March 21, 2025, members of the board of trustees associated with Georgian Dream demanded during a board meeting that the Prosecutor’s Office launch an investigation against journalists Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani and Nino Zautashvili due to their critical stance toward the broadcaster’s editorial policy.
On April 26, 2025, TV Pirveli aired an investigative report by journalist Maka Andronikashvili concerning a construction permit allegedly obtained through corrupt means on Levan Aleksidze Street.
During filming, the crew—journalist Maka Andronikashvili and her cameraman—were verbally abused and threatened with physical violence by Tamaz Kharaidze, the central figure in the investigation.
On May 12, 2025, in Kvemo Kartli, a journalist and a cameraman from TV Pirveli, who were investigating the resignation of former Deputy Governor Giorgi Shinjikashvili, were physically attacked by the former official’s father.
According to the journalist, Mariam Makasarashvili, Shinjikashvili’s father slapped her in the face and physically attacked the channel’s cameraman as well. At the same time, he seized the TV station’s camera and the journalist’s personal mobile phone, which were returned only after 40 minutes. As a result of the attack, the journalist suffered a concussion and required medical assistance.
The crew immediately called the police. According to the broadcaster, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrived an hour and 20 minutes later. The Special Investigative Service has launched an investigation into the incident.
According to the Media Advocacy Coalition, the incident “once again clearly highlights the critical state of media freedom and safety in the country.”
On February 1, Shalva Papuashvili, leader of the Georgian Dream party, accused the online publication Publika of announcing the commission of a criminal offense.
Papuashvili made this statement in response to a Facebook post published by Publika about a protest planned for February 2 near Tbilisi Mall. The protest is being held with demands for the immediate release of political prisoners and new elections.
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics responded to the ruling party leader’s accusation against the media: “The repressive policy of Georgian Dream towards independent media reached a new level on February 1 when Shalva Papuashvili manipulatively linked the media’s professional duty to the hastily adopted amendment restricting the right to assembly (Government Decree #361, passed on January 31) and started talking about criminal liability,”the statement reads.
The Media Advocacy Coalition also expressed support for Publika: “Georgian Dream is particularly attacking independent outlets that uphold high professional standards in the Georgian media landscape. We stand with Publika!” the statement says.
On December 8, 2024, during a press conference at the Government Administration, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze used offensive language toward Telara Gelantia, a journalist and editor from “BMG,” for asking critical questions. He also threatened to expel her from the press conference.
Irakli Kobakhidze addressed Telara Gelantia with the following words: “I’ll expel you right now. Stop babbling, seriously. Don’t babble, or I’ll expel you if you keep it up.”
