TBILISI, DFWatch – Another eight thousand satellite dishes belonging to Maestro TV has been seized by the police.

The seizure comes in addition to an action by the prosecutor’s office on July 11, when tens of thousands of satellite dishes were seized from Maestro.

Maestro director Ilia Kikabidze told journalists that he learned about what had happened on Tuesday.

The satellite dishes were being brought to Georgia from Ukraine. Kikabidze says that the seizure may lead to losses in the amount of 150 thousand lari, about USD 91 300.

The Prosecutor’s Office accuses the TV company of assisting Georgian Dream by distributing satellite dishes to voters for free, which is considered bribery. The TV company on its part argues that they don’t need to bribe voters because they are not a political party. https://dfwatch.net/maestro-journalists-defend-tv-stations-integrity-28949

Neither the State Audit Service nor other government bodies have released an official statement regarding the seizure of another eight thousand satellite dishes.

Earlier this year, several hundred thousand satellite dishes belonging to the opposition Channel 9 TV were also seized based on the same argument. https://dfwatch.net/channel-9-defiant-after-police-seize-300-000-sat-dishes-19184