TBILISI, July 15 – Georgian film director Goga Khaindrava has won a defamation case against the opposition-leaning TV channel Formula and says he will use the compensation money to create a fund for people who say they have been targeted by “media terror.”
Tbilisi City Court ruled in Khaindrava’s favor on Tuesday, July 14. Judge Liana Kazhashvili fully satisfied his claim, fined Formula TV 10,000 GEL (USD 3,800) for moral damage and ordered the channel to retract information that the court found damaging to Khaindrava’s name, honor and dignity.
Khaindrava told reporters after the ruling that not everyone has the means to defend themselves publicly or legally. He said the 10,000 GEL would go toward creating a fund to help citizens defend themselves against what he called media terror.
The case stems from reports aired by Formula’s program “Saturday Formula” on December 20, 2025 and January 17, 2026. On January 21, Khaindrava said he would sue the channel over the reports.
According to Rezonansi, Formula cited a confidential source and reported that in 2016-2017 Khaindrava, allegedly in agreement with Georgia’s State Security Service, helped bring Indian and Pakistani citizens into Georgia in exchange for money.
Khaindrava argued that the reports contained several substantially false claims and deliberately misled the public.
Formula’s lawyer, Eto Katamadze, said the decision would be appealed. She said the channel would exhaust all legal procedures inside Georgia and would probably continue the case in Strasbourg. She described the ruling as unfounded and said “free journalism” and “conscientious journalism” should not be punished in this way.
The Media Advocacy Coalition also criticized the court decision. It said the justice system was being used against independent media and called the ruling another example of repressive policy. The coalition said Formula, its investigative team and independent media more broadly were being targeted because of their critical editorial policy.
Following a statement by Khaindrava’s lawyers, the Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case against Formula under the article on false denunciation, Rezonansi reported.
