“On 7 October, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze expressed our political team’s concern at a briefing held at the Government Administration that not a single European country, nor America’s new administration, has condemned the radical opposition’s organised attempt to overthrow the government,” stated by Giorgi Grdzelishvili, Head of Communications for the Georgian Dream party, at a briefing held at the party’s central office.
According to Grdzelishvili, following the unconstitutional actions committed by the radicals on October 4, instead of condemnation, we witnessed yet another display of political shamelessness from both the European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Union spokesperson.
Grdzelishvili stated that, parallel to these processes, convicted journalist Mzia Amaglobeli [founder of Batumelebi and Netgazeti media outlets] has become the recipient of the World Press Freedom Hero Award.
“Moreover, following the radicals’ unconstitutional actions, far from condemnation, we witnessed yet another display of political shamelessness when, first, the European People’s Party declared Georgian Dream ‘violent’ in relation to the processes that unfolded on October 4, whilst the EU spokesperson accused the ruling team of producing Russian propaganda. Parallel to these political processes, it became known yesterday that Mzia Amaglobeli, who stands convicted for an act of violence against a law enforcement officer and has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, has become the recipient of the World Press Freedom Hero Award, presented annually by the International Press Institute (IPI) in partnership with International Media Support (IMS),” noted Giorgi Grdzelishvili.
As Grdzelishvili emphasised, awarding Amaglobeli represents a continuation of the unjust political attitude towards Georgia and constitutes yet another mockery of Georgian society. In his words, awarding Mzia Amaglobeli the hero’s prize clearly demonstrates the dire state of the international media.
“Awarding Amaghlobeli the hero’s prize is a continuation of that unjust political attitude towards our country, which has persisted unabated for several years now. The decision to award the hero’s prize to a criminal who deliberately attacked a police officer, and through this action showed contempt not merely towards one specific law enforcement officer but towards the entire system and the state, represents yet another act of shamelessness, a mockery of Georgian society, free speech, and free media.
On the other hand, awarding the hero’s prize to convicted Mzia Amaglobeli clearly demonstrates the dire state in which international media and the international press find themselves, controlled precisely in the same manner as Brussels’ political establishment, managed from a single centre, totally controlled by one hand, and where any such decision serves a specific purpose. In this instance, Amaglobeli, convicted for deliberate violence and attacks on the state and its institutions, was exploited, and as a result, we see that they ‘rewarded’ the faithful execution of an assignment and declared nothing more, nothing less than a hero on the international stage,” stated Giorgi Grdzelishvili.
According to him, this is precisely the signature of the ‘Deep State,’ in politics and in media alike, there exists for them only one perverted standard: when those who organise the overthrow of government are declared victims, whilst law enforcement authorities are declared violent.
“When they award a hero’s prize to a violent journalist, whilst referring to journalists who conscientiously do their jobs as mouthpieces of Russian propaganda, without being able to present even a single fact. Meanwhile, the Georgian political and media space is saturated with foreign agents, who in most cases are forced by their masters to bang their heads against the wall, to take any unlawful step to overthrow the legitimate government, and who must serve their sentences in penal institutions for the crimes they’ve committed.
Gvaramia, Melia, Japaridze, and other agents are serving sentences to this day, just like Mzia Amaglobeli, but apparently only the latter has earned the ‘Deep State‘ hero title.
I would remind the public that from ‘Deep State’ funds, of somewhat lower rank, though multiple prizes nonetheless, awards have been given in past years to Nika Gvaramia and Nino Lomjaria, one in the field of media, the other in human rights. At that time, Gvaramia’s sole contribution to Georgian media was normalising the foul language, whilst as for Lomjaria, she was Saakashvili’s and the United National Movement’s personal ombudsman,” declared Giorgi Grdzelishvili.
