Imedi TV owner says Nika Gvaramia urged US Ambassador to push for his arrest

Irakli Rukhadze, the owner of Imedi TV company, on Wednesday said that prominent opposition figure Nika Gvaramia, “currently presenting himself as a defender of media freedom”, once actively sought his own arrest in discussions with the US Ambassador.

In his remarks at a session of the Georgian Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission examining alleged crimes committed by the former United National Movement Government between 2003 and 2012, Rukhadze elaborated on past events surrounding Imedi TV, referencing what he described as attempts to target him.

“Nika Gvaramia, who now portrays himself as a defender of media freedom, used to go to the US Embassy and tell the American Ambassador that I should be arrested”, Rukhadze said.

He further cited WikiLeaks cables from the US Embassy to the State Department as evidence, asserting they detailed efforts to have him arrested.

Rukhadze recounted an incident involving News Corp, the global media giant, and its then-head Rupert Murdoch. He stated that News Corp, which wields significant influence in the US, had two conversations with then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding Imedi TV.

“Murdoch himself told me later that he had never encountered such a situation where people from the American Government were calling him and insisting that he should leave Imedi TV because it was pro-Russian and intended to bring Russia into Georgia - the same rhetoric as today”, he concluded.

Rukhadze is testifying before a temporary investigative commission of 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 is 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.