DAS BRYZA'S NOVEMBER 11 AND 14 MEETINGS WITH IMEDI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 002944

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/CARC, EUR/FO, EUR/RUS, AND EUR/PPD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO ASEC GG RU
SUBJECT: DAS BRYZA'S NOVEMBER 11 AND 14 MEETINGS WITH IMEDI
MEDIA LEADERSHIP AND JOURNALISTS

REF: A. TBILISI 2792


B. TBILISI 2752

C. TBILISI 2729

D. TBILISI 2719

Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft, reason 1.4 (b),and (d).


1. (C) (Summary) During his visit to Tbilisi DAS Bryza held
three meetings with the management and journalists of Imedi
television. On November 11, Lewis Robertson, CEO Newscorp
Caucasus and Imedi General Manager; Bidzina Baratashvili,
Imedi General Director; and Irakli Rukhadze, Manager of
Selford Holdings and Badri Patarkatsishvili,s representative
in Georgia, met with EUR DAS Matt Bryza. Bryza listened to
details of the November 7 raid on Imedi television and its
subsequent shutdown, and expressed USG concerns and the State
Department,s call for the State of Emergency to be
immediately ended and for all media broadcasting to be
resumed. Robertson responded that they could resume limited
broadcasting within 6 hours and that they could accept some
sort of independent monitoring of journalistic ethical
standards as long as there were no government restrictions on
how to cover the news. In later meetings on November 15 with
Imedi journalists and with Baratashvili and in a phone
conversation with Robertson DAS Bryza discussed in greater
detail his suggestion that a journalistic code of ethics be
developed by Georgian journalists and that a European Media
ombudsman should be named to oversee adherence to that code
of ethics. The Imedi journalists expressed concerns about
censorship, but welcomed details of such a system, including
Bryza,s clarification this would not constitute censorship.
The journalists wanted to discuss it further with Newscorp
superiors. Baratashvili, who had earlier suggested the need
for such a system, mentioned that he had already been
discussing the details with an influential Georgian newspaper
editor, and expressed a willingness to find a way to make it
work.(End Summary).

NEW DETAILS OF NOVEMBER 7 AT IMEDI
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2. (C) November 11, Baratashvili told Bryza there were at
least five groups of Special Forces at Imedi on the night of
November 7. "Each group seemed to act quite differently and
to have its own orders," he said. Baratashvili said that
some police were quite professional, especially the regular
police, others wore blue jeans and did not appear to be
police at all. In spite of repeated requests, Imedi staff
were never shown a warrant or court order for the raid.
Baratishvili said that he and others had guns held to their
foreheads. The Imedi representatives said there was
extensive destruction of equipment during the raid, and that
film and programming archives were destroyed. They also said
there was wide-spread vandalism and looting by security
forces. The Imedi cafeteria was completely looted, and
security forces were seen carting off cases of water. Some
employee,s cars in the Imedi parking lot had windows broken
and car stereos stolen. Baratashvili said his jacket and his
personal cell phone were stolen. Desk drawers were emptied
and it is presumed that many items are now missing.
Baratashvili said he saw one member of the Security Forces
not wearing a ski mask who appeared to be on drugs.
Ambassador Tefft requested that they write down a full
description of the events at Imedi for inclusion in the next
Human Rights report.

ON THE SAME DAY, AT PATARKATSISHVILI,S AMUSEMENT PARK
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3. (C) Rukhadze, Manager of Selford Holdings and Badri
Patarkatsishvili,s representative in Georgia and a
naturalized American citizen, said that Badri
Patarkatsishvili has two primary holdings in Georgia: Imedi
and the Mtatsminda amusement park in Tbilisi. At 11:00 am on
November 7 the amusement park was stormed by Police who took
possession of the park and evicted its employees. According
to Rukhadze, this also was done without presenting any legal
papers. He later heard on Rustavi 2 television that the
Mayor,s office said the park was seized for not having paid
a leasing fee to the City, but according to Rukhadze, this
fee is not due until November 17, and even if not paid the
government would not have the right to "storm the park."

LATER EVENTS AT IMEDI
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4. (C) Up to the November 11 meeting with Bryza, Imedi
officials still had not been informed of a legal
justification for the raid. According to Baratashvili, they
learned from a New York Times interview with MP Giga Bokeria
that there was an investigation against Imedi. "Do we have

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to read the New York Times to find out what is happening to
our company," Baratashvili asked. He has requested
information from the government about the status of the Imedi
broadcasting license and was informed by MP Bokeria that
there was a lien on their property, and that there will be
criminal charges. Rukhadze observed that "a lien is a legal
document, and must be legally prepared, but we have still
seen nothing." No Imedi employees have been allowed to
return to Imedi to assess damages and see what needs to be
repaired. EU Representative Peter Semneby,s tour of Imedi
premises early on November 11 was broadcast by Public
Television, the only channel currently allowed to broadcast
news. The Imedi management said they were surprised to see
that there was no visible damage to the station, and that it
was perfectly clean. Baratashvili observed, "Frankly, the
station has never been that clean. We should hire the
government staff who did this to clean the station for us."
He alleged that this clean-up was proof that the government
was trying to cover up their actions at Imedi.

WHEN CAN IMEDI RETURN?
--------------


5. (C) According to Robertson, CEO Newscorp Caucasus and
Imedi General Manager, Imedi could return to the air in a
limited way, and perhaps only via satellite, within six
hours. Rukhadze said that since most Georgian viewers do not
have satellite it would be essential to return Imedi to the
regular broadcast airwaves. This would require government
support, and enough time to repair or replace damaged
equipment. The lack of archives would seriously limit their
normal programming.

WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
--------------


6. (C) Imedi representatives adamantly refused to acknowledge
that there was any possible justification for the
government,s concerns about Imedi or for the government,s
subsequent actions. Robertson said "Every morning I look at
what we have shown the night before and I make sure that it
is balanced." (NOTE Robertson does not speak Georgian or
Russian.) When asked about Patarkatsishvili,s famous
statement that he would spend every last tetri (penny) of his
money to overthrow the government, the Imedi representatives
said that the statement was taken out of context.
Baratashvili said, "We are not here to defend Badri," and
Rukhadze said, "Badri was calling for Evolution, not a
Revolution." When asked why Patarkatsishvili,s statements
and Okruashvili,s "crazy speech" were repeatedly played on
Imedi, their response was that these stories were news, that
people wanted to see them, and that everyone was watching
them. They observed that all of the channels covered these
items.

THE LEAD-UP TO NOVEMBER 7
--------------

7. (C) In response to a question on Imedi bias, Imedi
representatives said the government has been boycotting Imedi
television for more than two years, despite repeated offers
to government representatives to appear on air. Since no one
from the government would appear on Imedi, that left a vacuum
that only the opposition filled. "Perhaps a structural bias
was created, but it was created by the government and not by
Imedi," Batarashvili said. Imedi representatives said that
"things are a lot more complicated since Badri is running for
President." Once they realized Patarkatsishvili,s political
ambitions, they asked that he step aside from Imedi
management. That was why Patarkatsishvili signed a limited
power of attorney on October 31 granting Newscorp management
rights over Imedi for 12 months. It is important to note
that Patarkatsishvili retains full ownership of his stock.
This agreement has been widely misreported on Imedi and in
interviews by Robertson, and Patarkatsishvili, as the sale of
all Imedi shares. In an October 31 press conference,
Newscorp representative Robertson stated that "Mr.
Patarkatsishvili will continue to be regularly consulted on
the direction of Imedi."

MEETING THE WORKING JOURNALISTS
--------------


8. (C) On November 15 Imedi journalists told Bryza that they
recognize the need for greater understanding of journalistic
ethics by the Georgian media, and expressed their willingness
to accept and abide by some sort of code of ethics and work
under an ombudsman,s oversight so long as it was not
censorship, and so long as all Georgian media were similarly
scrutinized. They continued to be frankly partisan in their
politics and quite skeptical of the President and the

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government,s actions and intentions. They stated that when
Newscorp had begun overseeing Imedi they had hoped for
training in ethics and standards, but they were never given
any such training. During the week of the demonstration they
stated that every day Robertson would come into their
newsroom and applaud their unbiased reporting. The
journalists gave Bryza a warm reception, even when he called
out a producer for distorted reporting that falsely indicated
the Georgian Government refused to compromise on any of the
opposition,s demands. The journalists implored Bryza to
continue working toward a compromise that would get Imedi
back on the air.

GETTING EVERYONE TO YES
--------------


9. (C) On November 15 DAS Bryza met again with Imedi
management. In that meeting he discussed some of the
concrete details of a proposed media ombudsman. He mentioned
that Adam Michnik, a noted Polish journalist and politician
had been identified as a candidate for such a position. He
stressed the independence of such an Ombudsman and that the
EU would oversee the arrangement. Batarashvili stated that
though the final decision would have to be Newscorp,s, he
felt that the proposal was fair and represented a system with
which he and his staff could work. "We agree to have a
balance, it is in our interest," he said. He stated that
they would welcome greater attention to professional
journalist ethics and standards. "We are not the slaves of
Badri or Newscorp, we are professional journalists," he said.
When Bryza contacted Robertson, the latter stated that he
would have to see the details of any proposal. He said
Newscorp would not agree to any form of censorship. He was
not familiar with the concept of a country-wide media
ombudsman, but was willing to learn about it. In general he
could not make any specific agreement without discussing the
proposal with Newscorp leadership. It should be noted that
the European Council in Georgia proposed a code of
journalistic ethics in 2006, but that journalists objected to
it as being a form of censorship and so it lapsed on July 1,
2007 without being approved. DAS Bryza observed that the GOG
seemed willing to allow Imedi to return to the air under
these circumstances, and was planning to put in place the
media freedom ombudsman. He said Imedi,s only real decision
would be whether to resume broadcasts once the GOG gave
permission to do so.


10. (U) DAS Bryza has cleared this telegram.
TEFFT