Gulashvili: Georgian Times to restart soon

The Georgian Times newspaper suspended by journalists because of pressure exerted by Georgian authorities will soon be restarted. Its owner Malkhaz Gulashvili has promised to go on criticizing the incumbent authorities in the pages of his media.

"The newspaper was not closed, we've just suspended it for a while in protest against the pressure exerted on my family," Malkhaz Gulashvili said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "It'll soon be resumed, and the authorities will be criticized again."

Mr Gulashvili could not tell the exact date of the next issue of the Georgian Times after the break. According to his story, the circulation of the paper in the Georgian language makes 25,000, and of its English-language version - 10,000 copies.

"It's not an oppositional newspaper, just a free one," explains Lasha Tugushi, executive director of the Association of Georgian Press. "The edition is highly critical towards the incumbent power; it often criticizes the work of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and the activities of certain opposition parties."

We remind you that earlier Malkhaz Gulashvili had stated that in the evening on March 13, when he was in Vienna at the opposition summit, his minor son was stopped in the centre of Tbilisi by the criminal police and searched. "They put a pistol to the temple of a loyal boy of 16," Mr Gulashvili was indignant. "It's true psychological terror."