between russia and georgia. and breastpin. the story. of minimizing opposition. this small village of speedy in the foothills of the caucasus mountains it's saturday march thirteenth two thousand and ten. comes home after a day's work at a vineyard and falls asleep in a room where his father is watching the evening news on the t.v.

channel. i was sleeping on the sofa. when the program began my father was sitting here. watching from. i woke up because mother was screaming about the start of the war. father lying on the floor. i can't remember clearly what happened next somebody rushed to the neighbors to ask them for help. my father when they arrived he was already dead. the ambulance came just fifteen minutes after being called the cause of death according to doctors. induced by a programme on the t.v. channel. involving georgian political analysts and journalists and eight pm viewers didn't see the usually scheduled evening news instead they were shown

a thirty minute program creating the impression that a war had broken out between russia and georgia the anchor woman on the talk show had announced that the program would be based on a fictional situation only a minute before it started so anybody who tuned into the program after that warning thought they were watching a regular news bulletin. they made a few minutes president saakashvili is expected to make a special statement on the situation and the country will know if it's going to be recorded all written that it's being reported that the russian troops deployed to be put on combat. descriptives something straight out of a. opposition leader. to meet members of the russian government. russian agents without mincing words according to the authors of the program.

change the. images. of the building housing the television company. it's true that want to change. why haven't they detained the people featured in the script up still saakashvili has to bear in mind that she must produce concrete facts about being otherwise he will demonstrate once again that she is a lion and irresponsible and probably got some one of. the most common epithets for those who disagree with the policies of the georgian government that its any. journalist. investigations. came to power he was the kind of journalist. questions regardless of

who held the country's reins. it. could. discover real facts concerning the. cap. rule of self the said. this is interview with a set in human rights campaigner live at seven am she recounts events of august seventh two thousand and eight nobody seen it besides himself but georgia state controlled media didn't need to watch it to declare it a provocation on august the seventh georgia's president mikheil saakashvili spoke

of bring it to talks in any form and. he addressed the people of solve the sad. to say he had all that a unilateral ceasefire in a state he said he wouldn't yield to any provocation. and he assured a set they could go to bed in peace spots but it. was on the night of august the eight large caliber guns fired on scene vall from the georgian side. the military operation second really referred to as the enforcement of constitutional order in the territory of self the set you had begun . yes i will cop to face something really terrible at the end there was a deafening noise everything was shaking. and the women in the streets who is

thirty minute crying. was as if we had launched into hell after the will cain explosion of. the independent journalist work in a city it was seen by many in georgia as a betrayal of his country. i know of no journalist who wouldn't want to go to ten wall to get the facts but all of the state media summed up my work there as high treason nobody knows what sort of film it will be nobody knows what materials or how but the government's reaction is a kind of attempt at self defense. many facts exist. for them these are exposed by a discredited journalist as a traitor. during his work on the film after his return from south. interview with european human rights activists in geneva. there he received hints

to the effect that he'd better stay in geneva as long as his large family wanted to stay in georgia who. have problems after my return from so. i don't wish to talk about it because whatever i say may hinder the investigation. i can only say that there were. but i won't say what those threats are because. first investigations appeared on the television channel this channel played a key role in the rose revolution which brought president. to power. independent. truly independent media outlets. but out of the revolution in the them but two thousand and three.

to the independent. we couldn't imagine a situation without independent. made its debut in one thousand nine hundred four as a small studio in a private apartment ten years later it was already a popular modern channel as soon as he came to power he tried to bring its editorial policy under his control. journalists were denied accreditation and there were telephone calls to the channel's executives there were also attempts to buy up stock through figureheads. the media mogul who founded to see the channel to the president of his own accord. in two thousand and four when the state was taking its first steps it was assumed that the new system of government was still weak. so it was thought the state should be the top priority and the rest would take care of itself. but as it turned out the aim was to take control of the

channels i'm to blame for giving away so i didn't want to rock the boat but you need to become not only. that boat is still on an even keel but freedom of speech is not. really is the editor of a small district newspaper in the town of gori. incurious reports about corruption among members of the district's administration one of their more high profile articles reveals instances of misuse of humanitarian aid to refugees. local authorities don't want to accept the existence of an independent newspaper even though its circulation is a mere five hundred copies. i dropped into the building of the local administration yesterday because i need to deficient information on some remittance from gori to tbilisi the guards kicked me downstairs and pushed me against the wall did anyone see that yes indeed later i called the police. that i had fallen to the girl and some of the officials there said it serves me right that's what they said in

front of ordinary visitors. first met in two thousand and five when the authorities openly threaten a journalist for the first time someone who lives in a small village eight kilometers from border he goes to work by suburban train once he noticed that he was being fall. they chased me in the streets for two days on the third day as i came down the staircase and surrounded me opus one who is standing right in front of me it's me on my head i don't want another hit miss here i fell to the ground and covered my head with my have. they. that's me again and again my face was covered with blood some up with and my body was aching to give notice. despite the injuries someone decided not to give up editorial policy remains unchanged.

closure is that so much going on there is a huge decision on. what is culture powerful than ideology today with the rise of emerging economies as the world problems more clashes. november two thousand and seven thousands of people hold daily rallies in tbilisi they protest against the policies of the georgian government and president mikheil saakashvili. on november seventh authorities used tear gas and water cannon

against demonstrators. then independent t.v. channel and maybe as closely followed events for the past week. journalists go on air with the latest reports from the most unexpected places i'm going to miss it just as you can see behind my back of the civil right now at this very moment the special forces troops head into the same trinity cathedral i'm going to assume this would be the last day of immunities independence special forces troops broke into a mini studios during a live broadcast. to the movie most of the men don't by closing the channels equal to the government is violating the constitution. this means that this is a dictatorship regime. into the studio i want to say thank you i hear shots in the control room.

because of problems created by. because our t.v. channel had been shut down after all the media has restored broadcasting my friends and i had a decision. together with. many of the journalists have left the channel some of them came back to the profession to the former music t.v. channel maestro for many years there were no politics on this channel just music videos. we founded maestro in one thousand nine hundred four he would never have imagined that in fifteen years he'd be replacing d.j.'s with political commentators . it. was a very high standard. we should do something about. simply couldn't. we wanted a new company to step in. to become a broadcaster. normally

a license for so-called political broadcasting is issued within three weeks and they were denied it for nearly six months guests had no right to discuss anything besides films music and theater. that's the only word. from the studio but the sound was provided by radio. people wishing to see our talk shows had to switch on the television radio sets at the same time. maestros ingenuity is the envy of other television stations. only available in some districts of tbilisi and on the internet its popularity in the country grows with each passing month this media underdog attracts people's attention with its smart and on orthodox techniques. very difficult to live in one room twenty four hours

a day filming your every move. very difficult to. do some hard thinking before a long project. he's confined to a small studio. with . the visit.

to the stadium where he played a concert. ah. in the. public defender of georgia parliament elected human rights. in that role he submitted many. being threatened. to the parliament. now he's unemployed after they refused to extend. parliament.

for a time. gave up his journalism career and worked as an assistant public defender. but he couldn't stay away from his chosen profession for long. very close relationship. with his investigations. were interesting. if they covered political scandals. one of. his most sensational films examines the mysterious death of former prime minister.

george and he was such. was the person whose political influence kept limits on the real power of president saakashvili. two thousand and five the prime minister died quite unexpectedly under circumstances. as the georgian government said. inconvenient and suspicious facts that question the official version saying he died of gas poisoning. the case is still relevant the nation has asked questions about the. government has still failed to answer. in his film. collected and explained the many discrepancies in the case he set out the facts and ask questions without trying to draw conclusions.

of the. intimidation and continued his investigation. the government had forced the journalists to flee the country telling us swiss authorities to grant him political asylum. says he was among those demonstrating in front of the swiss embassy in tbilisi in support of. holding is a very good illustration of the situation in the country now the freedom of speech is being ousted from the country as the poster reads freedom of speech is. the independent media depends on advertising for survival if there's no advertising there's no revenue in this case a publication either each out its existence or shuts down altogether. advertisers are scared i mean local georgian advertisers and. they will always come under

pressure from taxes. if they put up advertisements in defiance of. tax inspectors sales. and so on and so forth. the holding company that publishes the georgian times weekly. only because of other activities its top executives really was branded as a kremlin agent a long time ago for his attempts to establish a dialogue with the russian intellectual elite. he set up is appropriately called the russo georgian commission for dialogue when he was on a visit to russia in two thousand and nine he attempted to invite several well known russian journalists to come to georgia. we didn't. we realize that. some very tough questions. to at least establish a direct and

a not so i dawdled with georgian counterparts. to find some great truth. of the three journalists invited by mouth. only one was allowed to cross the border must seem shift change and his colleague had to stay in the tbilisi airport an hour before their arrival president mikheil saakashvili had sent special forces to the airport with the aim of detaining the two journalists the troops cordon off the building into positions outside the exit to passport control the conflict was resolved by relatively peaceful means the unwelcome journalists were denied visas and sent back to russia as fast as possible. but. i felt very deeply insulted people here know that a georgian holds guests in high esteem by never been so insulted by. the time will come when the people who. will be punished accordingly. the

second patriarch of georgia expected to meet with the three russian journalists in his residence on the day of their arrival but he saw only one of them during the meeting the patriarch made it clear that he sincerely regret it the incident. to give gifts. at the airport now. is a move the patriarch of the georgian church is very guarded and statements he made no public comment on the incident at the airport but when he made showed the shocking program simulating a war between russia and georgia he hardly minced his words in expressing his frustration. we do not welcome such programs this is humiliating to individuals and the nation as a whole. country matches the. spread in georgia we take first

place they're. part of the army to join the enemy. this is an insult to our army. tremendous guilt. to move through. the program should be made. property is the control. program is one of the signs of. intimidation or unemployment. staying in a shelter for refugees in switzerland. in conflict. i'm worried not so much for my own sake as for my family georgian government has

shown that they can kill. his wife and children to receive visas enjoined from abroad he's warned them not to meet with journalists and to keep off the streets as much as possible he gets most of the news about his family and his country through close friends. take care of your immigration problems. visit you and. chances are i myself might come back before october if the government changes. the government. well yes why not it's cost. us tons still working on the script of a new film nobody's seen it yet but he's already scared the georgian government back. as an investigative journalist he's confident that some day he will be able to finish his work. back home to his native country.

first.

the number of dead in russia's heat wave rises to fifty two firefighters step up the battle as wildfires approach areas contaminated by the chernobyl catastrophe. calls for a nuclear free world as it marks sixty five years since the atomic bomb which destroyed the city taking tens of thousands of why. he is being

sworn in as new president i mean protests in central polish capital join us from warsaw for the latest details. also with that drowns and finance raging in russia will be assessing the economic impact of the severe weather joining us from the business update in about twenty minutes time. ten pm friday night here in moscow well we've just joined us this is the r t news channel with the top stories and first for the summer heat wave fueling wildfires in twenty two regions across russia the best toll has risen to fifty two more than three and a half thousand people have been left homeless meantime the capital is shrouded in small green worst the city's ever experienced. reports tonight. the small just

really has come in and has blanketed no matter how healthy was it saying to stay indoors and if you have to any reason they're urging you to wear a mask it's awful outside and it hurts to breathe this stuff and then once you do taste it for hours after you've gone inside your homes are also getting reports that in certain areas throughout moscow the air quality is twenty times poorer than usual so this is a very serious situation this is all going down as firefighters continue to battle blazes throughout the country six hundred fires and so far one hundred fifteen thousand have been burned but to give you an idea exactly how big that is we're talking about lining up one hundred fifteen thousand baseball fields or one hundred fifteen thousand international rugby field it's a huge amount and seven regions has been declared a national disaster area with emergency ministry is also worried about.