Irakli Rukhadze to testify on Imedi TV raid at Parliamentary Commission

Irakli Rukhadze, the owner of Imedi TV company, will testify on Wednesday before a temporary investigative commission in the Georgian Parliament, addressing allegations of pressure on businesses, suppression of media and freedom of expression, and other human rights violations during the former United National Movement Government.

The central focus of his testimony will be the raid on Imedi TV in 2007.

On the evening of November 7, 2007, special forces stormed the premises of Imedi TV, abruptly halting its broadcast. Armed and masked security officers entered the building, forced employees to the ground, and vandalized the station’s equipment.

This operation followed a series of inflammatory statements by high-ranking officials of the time.

The raid was followed by a months-long broadcasting shutdown. The station remained under state control until October 2012, when it was finally returned to the family of its founder, Badri Patarkatsishvili, following the end of Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency.

The Imedi case remains one of the most emblematic examples cited in discussions of media freedom violations in Georgia.