The Communications Commission has fined Mtavari TV GEL 112,000 for broadcasting political advertising outside the election period. On November 17 and 18, the broadcaster aired three video clips in violation of the legislation. Mtavari TV had already been sanctioned for a similar violation in the past year. Therefore, the broadcaster was fined 1% of its annual revenues for this breach. Previously, Mtavari TV was found to have violated the legislation under similar circumstances in 2019 and 2020. 

The Communications Commission calls on all broadcasters to comply with the legislation and refrain from unlawfully broadcasting political adverts outside the election period. The Commission, as the body that sets the policy in the broadcasting sector, has a duty to enforce the law and respond to violations. The Commission has often emphasized that its goal is not to impose financial sanctions, but to uphold the law and prevent violations through means that include sanctions against the parties breaching the law. 

According to the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, the broadcaster has a duty to ensure that any advert it airs complies with the Georgian legislation, and to prevent the broadcasting of unsuitable advertisement. In the given case, the broadcaster aired the adverts outside the election period – at a time when it was prohibited from doing so by the legislation in force. 

One of the clips unlawfully aired by Mtavari TV shows a picture of the incarcerated United National Movement leader and former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, with the caption #FreeMisha, followed by pictures of senior penitentiary service employees and judges who were involved in Mr. Saakashvili’s case after his arrest. The words “they are killing him” are spoken after each picture and also displayed in writing. The video clip ends with the appeal “free Mikheil Saakashvili.” The second clip shows excerpts from statements made by the Prime Minister of Georgia, members of the Government , the President of Georgia, senior Georgian Dream figures, members of Parliament and the Mayor of Tbilisi about the incarceration and hunger strike of Mr. Saakashvili. The words “they are killing him” are heard after each statement. The video clip ends with the appeal “say no to the killers,” #FreeMisha. The broadcaster also aired a video displaying the pictures of Georgian Dream party members and party symbols, with the song of the Georgian Dream election campaign in the background. At the end of the clip, as we hear the words “my Georgia is here” being sung, the aforementioned pictures combine to form an image of the President of the Republic of Russia Vladimir Putin, with the caption “shameful.”