Gvaramia stays in custody, Court says

12:04, 02.11.2022

Nika Gvaramia, the founder and director of Mtavari Arkhi TV, will stay in custody, the Tbilisi Court of Appeals announced on Wednesday.

On 16 May 2022, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Gvaramia to 3.5 years in prison for abusing his position and harming the financial interests of the Rustavi 2 TV he had previously run.

Both the prosecution and the defence filed appeals against the Tbilisi City Court’s decision.

Gvaramia was initially charged on 6 September 2020, alongside Kakha Damenia, a former financial director of Rustavi 2, and Zurab Iashvili, the director of Inter Media Plus. The Court convicted Damenia under the same article, fining him GEL 50,000 ($17,000) and acquitted Iashvili of all charges. It re-qualified the charges for Gvaramia under Article 182 (2a, 2d,3 b), misappropriation or embezzlement with a preliminary agreement by a group, using official position and in large quantities, to Article 220, abuse of power.

By - Marika Kartozia

Justice/Crime

Mtavari Arkhi TV

Nika Gvaramia