25 June 2020, 18:30
Georgian secret services show interest in journalistic investigation into attempt on Giorgi Gabuniya
Nodar Meladze, a producer of the "Pirveli" TV Company, refused to disclose to the Georgian State Security Service his sources of information about the man detained in a case on an assassination attempt on Giorgi Gabuniya.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 16, the State Security Service of Georgia announced the detention of a Russian citizen in a case on preparation of an assassination attempt. Nika Gvaramiya, the general director of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Company, reported that the detainee was a native of Ingushetia, and Giorgi Gabuniya, a reporter of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Channel, was to fall victim to a possible assassination. Nika Gvaramiya associated the possible assassination attempt with the threats against Giorgi Gabuniya voiced earlier by the leader of Chechnya.
In July 2019 Giorgi Gabuniya spoke obscenely about Russian President Vladimir Putin on air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Channel. Then, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, reacted to this, saying that top Georgian officials must apologize to Putin and Russia. He also expressed threats against the Georgian journalist. On June 21, 2020, Gabuniya again addressed Vladimir Putin in the Russian language by using rude expressions.
On June 24, Nodar Meladze, a producer of the "Pirveli" TV Company, gave testimony at the Georgian State Security Service concerning a report, in which he and journalist Maka Chikhladze tried to find out more information about the detained Russian citizen involved in the assassination attempt against Giorgi Gabuniya, the "Georgia Online" reported on the same day.
After the questioning, Nodar Meladze announced that he had not disclosed his sources of information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Russian Federation regarding the passports of the suspect and other information. "We, the journalists, have every right not to disclose our sources," Nodar Meladze claimed.
According to the "Pirveli" TV Company, the man suspected of plotting an attempt on Giorgi Gabuniya has a passport issued in the name of a native of Ingushetia. Earlier, in their report, the journalists claimed that they had got a full dossier from the Russian MIA concerning the detainee.
In her material, journalist Maka Chikhladze voiced two versions. According to the first one, the man detained in the case on the assassination attempt on Giorgi Gabuniya was recruited by the Russian special services, while the second version suggests that another person is hiding under his name.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 25, 2020 at 11:22 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondent
