The Communications Commission has partially upheld the complaint lodged by the political union Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia against the following broadcasters: Mtavari Arkhi, Formula, TV Pirveli, Teleimedi, Rustavi 2 (Media Holding), Studio Maestro, PosTV, Georgian Public Broadcaster, Adjara TV and Radio of the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Silk Media, and Ilioni.

Today’s session of the Communications Commission dealt with the complaint, which concerned several issues:

According to the complaint, despite the court rulings, Mtavari Arkhi, TV Pirveli and Formula still refuse to air the political adverts of Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia. At the same time, all broadcasters are airing the free political adverts of United National Movement in accordance with the law. Therefore, the complainant believes that the principles of impartiality, justice, equality and non-discrimination are being violated.

The complaint also notes that the Communications Commission discussed and ruled that the political adverts of European Georgia, Yes to Europe and Citizens are unlawful, which was confirmed by the court. Nevertheless, the adverts in question are still being aired by Mtavari Arkhi, TV Pirveli and Formula.

In addition, the complaint states that the political adverts of European Georgia, Yes to Europe and Citizens are being unlawfully aired by Adjara TV and Radio of the Georgian Public Broadcaster, while the video clips of European Georgia and Yes to Europe are also being aired by Euronews Georgia (Silk Media).

The complaint of the political union Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia appealed to the Communications Commission with the following demands: Mtavari Arkhi, TV Pirveli and Formula to be found to have violated the law by refusing to air the free political adverts submitted by Georgian Dream; the unlawful actions of the media outlets and the imbalance mentioned in the complaint to be reported to the monitoring missions; public broadcasters, community broadcasters and general broadcasters to be instructed to remove the free political adverts of the electoral subjects United National Movement, Coalition for Change – Gvaramia, Melia, Girchi, Droa, Strong Georgia – Lelo, For the People, For Freedom and European Democrats from the air; Mtavari Arkhi, TV Pirveli, Formula and GPB to be found to have violated the rules by airing the free political adverts of European Georgia, Yes to Europe and Citizens; and Euronews Georgia to be found to have violated the rules by airing the free political adverts of European Georgia and Yes to Europe.

The Communications Commission reviewed the advert submitted by Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia and found that it did not violate the legislation. Therefore, broadcasters are obliged to air the said advert in case of its submission. ComCom’s decision was shared by the City Court, which deemed the refusal to air the political advert to be unlawful and fined Mtavari Arkhi, TV Pirveli and Formula. The continued refusal of these broadcasters to air the free political advert of Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia violates the Election Code of Georgia, leading to the Communications Commission issuing the broadcasters with violation protocols.

Regarding the free political adverts of European Georgia, Yes to Europe and Citizens aired by Mtavari Arkhi, TV Pirveli and Formula, the decision of the Communications Commission was also supported by the court, which ruled that the broadcasters had violated the law. Despite these rulings, the adverts in question are still being aired, leading to the Commission once again issuing the aforementioned broadcasters with administrative violation protocols.

Regarding the airing of the adverts of European Georgia, Yes to Europe and Citizens by Adjara TV, and the airing of the adverts of European Georgia and Yes to Europe by Euronews Georgia, the Commission found that the broadcasters have violated the election Code of Georgia. However, since the broadcasters in question have committed a violation of this type for the first time, the Commission will issue them with violation protocols but appeal to the court to free them from responsibility in accordance with previous practice.  

As for the issue of removal of the free political adverts of the electoral subjects United National Movement, Coalition for Change – Gvaramia, Melia, Girchi, Droa, Strong Georgia – Lelo, For the People, For Freedom and European Democrats from the air, the Commission notes that the use of free advertising time by electoral subjects in accordance with the legislation is of the utmost importance for the democratic conduct of the pre-election process.  The Commission is also aware of the negative impact caused by the failure on behalf of certain broadcasters to air the free political adverts submitted to them in full compliance with the law, and believes that this leads to inequality and a discriminatory approach towards a specific electoral subject. It is also evident that the law is not being enforced in spite of the court ruling. However, the Commission believes that discrimination should be eliminated by airing the submitted adverts in full compliance with the law, rather than by removing the adverts that were placed lawfully. Thus, the Communications Commission did not uphold this part of the complaint by the political union Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia, and did not issue the broadcasters with violation protocols.

It should also be noted that throughout the pre-election period, the Communications Commission is in active communication with the observation missions to whom it provides detailed information about the pre-election media environment.