Police "Fairy Tales" on Real TV

"Donadze's television", "police propaganda machine"... these are some of the epithets used in connection with TV station Real TV in Tbilisi, the TV channel broadcasts its programs only in the capital. As a result of investigation conducted by Batumelebi newspaper, it was established that the only owner of the TV station Ia Paichadze got the broadcasting license for that TV channel illegally. According to documents, Ia Paichadze has been holding high positions in government and law-enforcement bodies for years. Therefore she had no right to receive a broadcasting license.

During its brief history Real TV has managed to attract the public scrutiny several times. Its most scandalous feat was the libelous story about journalist Vakhtang Komakhidze and his family. So, how was Real TV formed?

"Real TV Georgia" company got its private broadcasting license from Medieval ltd. The sole founder and owner of both companies is Ia Paichadze.

From February 18, 2001 through December 21, 2006 Ia Paichadze was working at various positions in the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. She founded Medieval ltd. on May 10, 2004. Based on the decree of Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) Medieval ltd. got a general TV and radio broadcasting license #1445 in January 2005. When Medieval ltd. received that license Ia Paichadze was the Head of Rapid Response Unit of Internal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice (according to the records of that Ministry).

According to article 37 of Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, a holder of broadcasting license cannot be "an administrative body, official or employee of the administrative body..."

"If Ia Paichadze was a public official, then she shouldn't have been the owner of legal entity that applied for license (in this case Medieval ltd.). So if that fact is ascertained then Commission's decision to grant Medieval ltd. the broadcasting license was illegal" - Lawyer Tamar Kordzaia says.

According to records supplied by National Agency of Public Registry, Ia Paichadze is the only founder of Medieval ltd. In other words she owns 100% of shares of that company.

Lawyer of nongovernmental organization Transparency International Georgia Lela Taliuri says: "If we interpret the law word by word one can say that the law was not violated, because the license was received by a legal entity ( not by an official). But in this case we can clearly say that article 37 of Law on Broadcasting needs to be reworked, because the goal of Law on Broadcasting is to form the type of broadcasting that is free of state interference, to encourage freedom of speech and expression, to ensure equality among the holders of the licenses etc. and in this concrete case these goals of the Law are ignored".

Lela Taliuri states that article 37 leaves some room for maneuvering, but "if we take into consideration the fact that Ia Paichadze owns 100% of Medieval ltd.'s shares and she can make decisions single-handedly in that company, the government's influence on that company and correspondingly, the connection between that company and administrative body is clear. The only competent body, that can make a final decision on whether the law has been breached or not, is the court. However, I can repeat that the goals of the Law are clearly ignored in this case".

Based on December 1, 2006 decree of GNCC the license #1445 owned by Medieval ltd. was modified into a private broadcasting license #B84. At that period of time Ia Paichadze acted as Head of Internal Affairs Department of Ministry of Justice of Georgia.

Ia Paichadze founded a new broadcasting company Real TV Georgia on July 16, 2009 (Ia Paichadze is again the owner of 100% of shares of that company). In August that year Georgian National Communications Commission gave Medieval ltd. a preliminary permission to transfer its broadcasting license to Real TV Georgia. On the fourth month of its founding and receiving broadcasting license from Medieval ltd. Real TV launched its broadcasting (October 2009). On November 5, 2009 Real TV Georgia received a radio broadcasting license as a result of auction (only Real TV took part in the auction).

In accordance with the official notification received by Transparency International Georgia from GNCC Ia Paichadze is the founder of Real TV.

There was a change in the ownership of Real TV Georgia in the beginning of this year; according to the records supplied by National Agency of Public Registry on February 24, 2010, Artiom Zakaraia was the owner of 100% of shares of Real TV Georgia. On June 22, 2010 Artiom Zakaraia applied to National Agency of Public Registry and requested that technical mistakes be corrected in the Agency's records. According to the report sent by the company to GNCC, Ia Paichadze is named as the owner and managing director of Real TV. In the records of National Agency of Public Registry dated June 23 and June 25 Artiom Zakaraia's name vanishes and Ia Paichadze is again named as the owner of the company.

Ia Paichadze and Police

According to some unconfirmed reports, Ia Paichadze worked in the Ministry of Interior after leaving the Ministry of Justice. In order to check this information we applied to Ministry of Interior with an official letter on March 4, 2010. Ministry of Interior failed to provide us with public information; as a result we applied to the Ministry with an administrative complaint. After the corresponding procedures were conducted, on June 14 (after about four months of delay) Deputy Head of Administration Zviad Tavartkiladze wrote to us: "...we'd like to inform you that we couldn't find any information about Ia Paichadze's tenure in the Ministry of Interior".

Lawyer of Georgian Young Lawyers' Association Tamar Kordzaia says: "the reply of Ministry of Interior is not a direct denial of Ia Paichadze's tenure in the Ministry of Interior. Therefore, we have a well-grounded reason to believe that she indeed worked in that Ministry."

Real TV as a Propaganda Tool

Holder of a broadcasting license is obliged to protect "the rights of individuals, their freedoms and lawful interests" while carrying out its activities. However, as media expert Zviad Koridze says, media products produced by Real TV often violate journalism standards and ethical norms: "Their stories often contain undocumented and unchecked data, which are used by journalists against concrete individuals and organizations. Their media products are often insulting and unethical. Constitutional rights pertaining to freedom of religion and opinion are violated. The story about former Public Defender titled "Subari's Religious Faith" is a clear example of that; the story about journalist Vakhtang Komakhidze titled "Media, Crime, Law" is also a vivid example".

According to Zviad Koridze, we encounter a new form of broadcasting in the form of Real TV, which completely disregards journalism ethics. "We don't know the financial declaration of the founder of that TV channel despite the fact that she was once a public official; the most interesting thing is that we don't know her current financial standing. We don't know how she manages to finance the TV station".

In his opinion Real TV Georgia spreads propaganda: "In my opinion it's a purely propaganda project. That is a TV channel that has no independent editorial policy, it's directly connected with the authorities and especially the law enforcement bodies, which are often highlighted in the reporting of that TV station".

Journalist of Media.ge Tamaz Kupreishvili has the same opinion about the TV station, according to him: "Real TV is a very important office equipped with modern audio-video equipment, where indictments are presented in the form of TV reports".

The Only Property and Financial Declaration

According to April 22, 2004 property declaration, Ia Paichadze lives at 41 Razmadze Street, Tbilisi together with her mother and child. Both broadcasting companies - Medieval ltd. and Real TV Georgia are registered at that address.

According to the declaration, Ia Paichadze's mother Gulnara Jimsheradze is a lawyer at Presidium of Georgian Lawyers. At that period of time Ia Paichadze's annual income amounted to 12,000 GEL. According to declaration, she owned a car worth 5,500 GEL. Currently, VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT is registered in Ia Paichadze's name (registration date: August 29, 2009).

Gulnara Jimsheradze's income is not declared in the document: "I don't know" is written in the corresponding section of the declaration.

Ia Paichadze was working at various positions in the Ministry of Justice for five years. Despite that, according to official website of Public Office Bureau, Ia Paichadze filled in her property declaration only in 2004.

Financial (non)-Transparency

According to the conditions under which a broadcasting license is issued, a license holder is obliged to annually publish and present to GNCC a report about the activities conducted in the previous year; the report must include information about the plan of activities and sources of financing. However, GNCC keeps the financial reports of the companies in secret. GNCC cites competition between private businesses as reason for confidentiality.

Lawyer Tamar Kordzaia says: "In that case in accordance with General Administrative Code, there must be an official request from the license holder to recognize that data as commercial secret by the administrative body. If such a procedure has not been carried out then information is considered open and it must be disclosed".

Newspaper Batumelebi applied to GNCC on July 17 and requested information about financial reports of Medieval ltd. and Real TV Georgia. Despite the fact that owner of those companies Ia Paichadze hadn't requested confidentiality status for those data, GNCC didn't provide us with financial report of Medieval ltd. According to the financial report of Real TV Georgia (#1/60 2009), the income from advertisement generated by that company was 46,854 GEL. According to that document, Real TV has had no income from grants or rebroadcasting.

Batumelebi newspaper tried to contact Ia Paichadze several times. First we tried to contact her a month ago, we also attempted to get in touch with her yesterday. We got one and the same reply from the representatives of the company both times: "Ms Ia is not in Georgia, she's abroad. Unfortunately, we're unable to get you in touch with her" - a lady's voice said, who presented herself as Director's Assistant.

According to our sources, Ia Paichadze hasn't crossed the state border in that period of time.