Media Advocacy Coalition Responds to the Attack on Zurab Vardiashvili

On September 15, 2018, several people physically assaulted Zurab Vardiashvili, Liberali editor. According to the police, the attackers have been identified, but there has not been any respond to it yet - no one has been charged and Zurab Vardiashvili has not been known as the victim yet.

Today the main version of the investigation is that Zurab Vardiashvili was attacked in mistake for somebody and in fact they intended to attack another person, who fought a day before the incident and mentioned that he was Zurab Vardiashvili.

However, on the next day, the investigator insistently repeated to the editor of Liberali that he was the one who fought and he was attacked on this ground.

First of all, we express our concern about the superficial attitude of the investigation and call for the investigation to pay more attention to the case.

At the same time, it is necessary to determine whether the attack to the editor of Liberali is linked to his journalistic activities and in case of confirmation of this fact, the case must be given the relevant qualification.

Media Advocacy Coalition calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to interrogate all possible witnesses, to grant to Zurab Vardiashvili the status of a victim, and to prosecute a charge to all identified person.