TBILISI, May 10 – Georgian journalist Gela Mtivlishvili says he was attacked shortly after appearing on air, leaving him with injuries to his face.
Mtivlishvili wrote on Facebook that the attack happened immediately after he left a broadcast. He accused a person he described as a hydropower lobbyist and a Georgian Dream-linked “street thug element” of attacking him.
“My face is injured. I went to the police. He will answer!” Mtivlishvili wrote, according to Interpressnews.
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs later told the news agency that an investigation had been opened under Article 126 of the Criminal Code, which concerns violence.
The opposition party Gakharia for Georgia condemned what it called the physical attack on Mtivlishvili and linked the case to a wider climate of danger for journalists.
“Aggression by the authorities towards media representatives and mass impunity for violence create physical safety risks for journalists, for which full responsibility lies with Dream,” the party said in a statement.
The party called on law enforcement agencies to react quickly and objectively.
The safety of media workers has become a major issue in Georgia in recent years, particularly in connection with political protest rallies, with human rights watchdogs calling out authorities for failing to investigate attacks.
