- Once again Saakashvili displays a fundamentalist intolerence
- Behaviour of the "Coalition for Justice" is questioned as they appear to ignore mistreatment by Georgian authorities
- Bulgaria's former prime minister tipped for EU's Georgian job
- New regulations further evidence of the collapse of the Georgian libertarian experiment
- Wheat crisis draws Georgia yet closer to Iran
- "Gay Pride" hysteria marked a kind of progress says leading campaigner
- Ruling party pledges fall in bread price by the end of the month
- More hyperbole from Saakashvili
- Health minister quits
- Reaction to mining disaster suggests Saakashvili losing confidence in Nika Gilauri
Submitted by georgiamedia on Thu, 21/01/2010 - 16:16
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
PDF version
A copy of the tape – with Russian read over the Georgian background – from Tribuna.com.ua can be listened to by clicking the link below.
Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionGeorgia’s public broadcaster is now at the centre of a row over alleged censorship after its "First Channel" TV station reportedly pulled a broadcast of a tape said to be of a call between interior minister Vano Merabishvili and leading ruling party MP and head of the parliamentary security committee, Givi Targamadze.
Shorena Shaverdashvili, a newly elected independent member of the public broadcaster’s board said the First Channel, unlike supposedly commercially driven rivals Imedi and Rustavi 2 (in fact all three are dependent on government aid), was planning to broadcast the tape in full but had then backed off.
Opposition politicians called for the tape to be broadcast.
In the call two men are heard to discuss the Ukraine presidential poll and what role Georgian "observers" could play.
The tape cannot be verified as genuine though, tellingly, there has been no attempt by the authorities to deny its veracity. If it is genuine then it displays the depths to which someone, probably the Russian security services, have penetrated Georgian communications and how little precautions, even after the intelligence debacle of the August War of 2008, senior Georgian security officials take when discussing sensitive issues.
In Ukraine supporters of the "Party of the Regions" (generally thought of as more pro-Russian) have been using this tape, and others that have surfaced in recent days, in an attempt to discredit Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate.
Tymoshenko, usually seen as pro-western (but latterly seeking to build bridges with the Kremlin) finished around 10% behind the Party of the Regions’ Viktor Yanukovytch in Sunday’s first round of voting and the two face a run-off on 7 February. A very close result is expected.
Despite the heat this issue has generated in Ukraine there is no evidence that Georgian "observers" had any material impact on the poll, its conduct or its outcome. International observers hailed the first round as a further sign of the consolidation of Ukraine’s democracy and lively political culture: a sharp contrast with Georgia where most observers think democracy and pluralism are weaker than at any time in the last decade.
A copy of the tape – with Russian read over the Georgian background – from Tribuna.com.ua can be listened to by clicking the link below.Bookmark/Search this post with:
mp3:
It look's like you don't have Adobe Flash Player installed. Get it now.
Tribuna.com.ua's tape of an alleged Merabishvili - Targamadze call (in Russian over Georgian background)
saakashvili a shame
I strongly believe in existing of such a tape. This mad man of Georgia is capable of comiiting any despacable behaviour as you can imagine. he is the shame of the georgian people. mentaly durange
Tom
Post new comment