Transparency International-Georgia appeals to the Public Defender of Georgia to establish a possible discrimination and obstruction of labor activities against members of the Public Broadcaster's “Akhali Kvira” program, Imeda Darsalia, Sopho Zedelashvili and Tamta Janadze.

According to the journalists, they are not given the possibility to perform their journalistic duties in a free environment in the Public Broadcaster. According to them, there were attempts of censorship by the management as well as the so-called “black list” of potential respondents who should not have been on the air of the Public Broadcaster “Akhali Kvira”.

From December 28, 2021, as a result of the reorganization, the program “Akhali Kvira” was not broadcasted. On February 18 this year, the host of the program, Imeda Darsalia, stated publicly about the existence of “lacklists” on the broadcaster and the problems related to the editorial independence for the public broadcaster. According to the journalists, at this stage they are not allowed to fully perform their professional duties and they had the impression that the management “punishes” the journalists for making revealing statements.

The Georgian legislation guarantees the independence of the Public Broadcaster from political and commercial influence. It is important that the journalists are able to carry out their professional activities in an environment free from censorship.