Russia attacked Georgia 105 years ago because it did not like our state and wanted to stop its existence, while Britain attacked the free Georgian media in order to stop free speech, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told journalists regarding the sanctioning of TV companies.

According to him, Imedi is a TV company that 40% of the Georgian population trusts, which is exactly why they want to silence the truthful word.

“105 years ago, Russia attacked the free Georgian state. 105 years later, Britain attacked the free Georgian media. I think this parallel is very clear and its content is also clear. Russia attacked Georgia 105 years ago because it did not like our state and wanted to stop the existence of our state, while Britain attacked the free Georgian media in order to stop free speech. This is the main issue. I will not say anything about the content that they had, absolute nonsense, that how come they said on television that Ukraine is a corrupt state. Yes, not corrupt, but hyper-corrupt. Look, they have switched to arresting each other.

Of course, disinformation absolutely does not bother Britain. Kezerashvili, the owner of Formula and Khazaradze, the owner and financier of TV Pirveli, are taking refuge in Britain. The owners of the two most propagandistic disinformation television companies, party media, are with the [British government]”, he said.

According to him, some non-governmental organizations provided Britain with information about Georgian media outlets.

“Do you think that members of the British government are watching the Georgian media? - Of course not, they have a fifth column in Georgia. You were saying who is carrying out the interests of foreign forces in Georgia? Now, those who have fabricated this case against free Georgian media are Georgians, these “Gigauris”, “Kintsurashvilis”, etc., who were sitting in dark rooms and were fabricated cases against free media. You were wondering what it means to pursue the interests of foreign forces, that is, when you fabricate a case against a free television station with 40% trust, a person with a Georgian surname and name, then you are exactly pursuing the interests of a foreign force.

We will act according to the need. The British ambassador is here and you can ask who is responsible for what, he is appointed commandant here. If I were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I would summon the ambassador, because of the statement that was made yesterday,” Papuashvili said.

For information, Great Britain has imposed sanctions on the TV companies Imedi and POSTV. According to the UK government, Imedi and POSTV have been sanctioned as organizations involved in the dissemination of Russian disinformation. The sanctions imposed by the UK include an asset freeze, a ban on financial services for asset management and the disqualification of the director. The sanctions document states that Imedi and POSTV are deliberately spreading misleading information about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to their audience, which is mainly represented in Georgia.