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An independent newspaper in Georgia claims government officials are attempting to "blackmail and intimidate" the head of its investigative journalism unit in order to get his "assistance and cooperation." The Batumi-based weekly, Batumelebi, has vowed to resist the threats and has gone public with information which Georgia’s Special Operations Department (SOD) threatened to release.
Batumelebi says that on 25 November, Tedo Jorbenadze, the head of the newspaper’s investigative journalism unit, was summoned to the Interior Ministry to discuss some "personal matters."
According to the newspaper, Jorbenadze informed the director and editor-in-chief before going along for the meeting, but they were not allowed to accompany him.
Jorbenadze says officials from SOD showed him what appeared to be cropped black and white photographs of the journalist with some semi naked men.
The newspaper claims Jorbenadze was told that the images would be released and circulated on the internet if he didn’t offer the authorities "assistance and cooperation."
Jorbenadze allegedly told the SOD officials that he refused to be intimidate and left. The newspaper then called a news conference to put the threats in the public domain. Management at Batumelebi now want Georgia’s prosecutor’s office to investigate the allegations.
When it began publishing in 2001, Batumelebi (People of Batumi) was the first independent publication in the south-eastern region of Adjara, Georgia.
Despite numerous restrictions, the paper thrived until the war with Russia in August 2008, when its computer systems were badly damaged by cyber attacks. Management believes the attacks were an attempt to silence the newspaper by those who did not like its critical reporting.
Batumelebi is a client of the Media Development Loan Fund, which has helped the newspaper build its online presence. It has also received support from the U.S. government's National Endowment for Democracy.
The paper has a reputation for investigative journalism covering such topics as human rights violations, budget spending and corruption monitoring.
It has been praised by Radio Liberty for its thorough analysis and by the Young Lawyers Association of Georgia for "promoting freedom to access information".
In December 2008 the German ZEIT Foundation and the Norwegian Institusjonen Fritt ord awarded Batumelebi the Free Press of Eastern Europe Award, in recognition of its war reporting. |
