regional georgia newspaper he looks into the cases identifies those guilty and sums up his findings in newspaper reports some of tried to intimidate him and he's been beaten up several times in two thousand and five he suffered a severe concussion. and screaming please don't. the georgian television channel shocked the nation on march thirteenth two thousand and ten. journalists. story. between russia and georgia they presented a hypothetical scenario as if it was a real news event. took it at face value panic ensued in the city's. hypertonic crisis and breastpin. instead of showing the real news. story. who's to blame for the intimidation of journalists.

of minimizing opposition in the georgian media. the 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 in a vineyard and falls asleep in a room where his father is watching the evening news on the emitting t.v. channel. i was sleeping on that sofa. when the program began my father was sitting here. my mother and grandmother were watching from there through the. night. i woke up because mother was screaming about the start of the war. when i saw a father lying on the floor. i can't remember clearly what happened next somebody

rushed to the neighbor's to ask them for help others were messaging my father when they're about ambulance arrived he was already dead more. 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 in the country we don't know if it's going to be a recorded all written message that it's been reported that the russian troops deployed

to have been put on a combat. descriptives something straight out of a hollywood action flick the russian tanks approach tbilisi the president's life is in danger meanwhile opposition leaders go to moscow to meet members of the russian government of the film bush and. russian agents without mincing words according to the authors of the program the moscow talks are about regime change and dividing georgian territory. you may be certain about that by eight thirty an outrage crowd was in front of the building housing the television company. but i guess it's true that one wanted milan a change of government it was why haven't they detained the people featured in the script up still saakashvili has to bear in mind that he must produce concrete facts about being otherwise he will demonstrate once again that she's

a liar and irresponsible provocator god someone i know that any russian agent agent of the kremlin. the most common epithets for those who disagree with the policies of the georgian government that it's in the face of. journalist. investigations and earned him wide popularity long before me. came to power he was the kind of inconvenient journalist who always asked uncomfortable questions regardless of who held the country's reins. the real problems cropped up and came to a head after the so-called rose revolution. that. there is almost no free press these days when. it constantly. baited by the current. situation couldn't imagine that.

his last investigation was an attempt to discover real facts concerning the two thousand and eight georgian conflict to find. capital of south the said. this is interview with a human rights campaigner. 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 green meant to in any form and. he addressed the people of self the same. to say he had a unilateral cease fire. he said she wouldn't yield to any provocation. and he is sure to say they could go to bed in peace spots but.

i on the night of august the eight large caliber guns fired on scene vall from the georgian side. the military. operation second referred to as the enforcement of constitutional order in the territory of the set. up to face something really terrible. there was a deafening noise everything was shaking. in the streets and crying. as if we had launched into. after the will cain explosion. 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 i wouldn't want to go to. to get the facts but all of the state media work there as high treason

nobody knows what sort of film it will be nobody knows what materials the government's reaction is a kind of attempt at self defense. that many facts exist and that it's better for them these are exposed by discredits the journalist as a traitor. work on the film after his return from south. interview with european human rights activists in geneva. 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. 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 they are humiliating. first investigations appeared on the television

channel the channel played a key role in the rose revolution which. president mikhail saakashvili to power. georgian people are not. independent. truly independent media outlets. but out of the field they reduce revolution in them but two thousand and three. constants to the independent. we couldn't imagine a situation without independent. stovey to 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 only the journalists were denied accreditation and there were telephone calls to the channel's executives now there were also

attempts to buy up stock through figureheads. the media mogul who founded to seed 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 know. 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. it carries reports about corruption among members of the district 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. in the country. into the building of the local administration yesterday i needed to fish will information on some remittance from gori to tbilisi. and pushed me against the wall did anyone see that yes indeed. the police. that. some of the officials there said it served me right that's what they said in front of ordinary visitors. first met in two thousand and five when the authorities openly threaten the journalist for the first time somebody lives in a small village eight kilometers from board he goes to work by suburban train once he noticed that he was beat. me in the streets for two days. third day as i came down the staircase. he was

standing right in front of me. another. guy fell to the ground my head with my. they had me again and again my face was covered with blood. despite the injuries decided not to give up editorial policy remains unchanged. we give you the future we understand how. to bring the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. technology update. for the full story. for us the biggest issues get. face to face with the news makers. november two thousand and

seven thousands of people. a protest against the policies of the georgian government and president mikhail 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 the air with the latest reports from the most unexpected places and then it's just as you can see behind my back 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. by closing the channel 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 shouts in the control room. employees will be in. journalism because of problems created by saakashvili because our t.v. channel had been shut down after all the media has restored broadcasting my friends and i had remained faithful to our decision. together withdraw to get many of the journalists have left the channel some of them came back to the profession later on to the former music t.v. channel maestro for many years there were no politics on this channel just music videos. 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 . entertainment programming was

a very high standard. we still. we should do something about. this. normally a license for so-called political broadcasting is issued within three weeks but they were denied it for nearly six months on our guests had no right to discuss anything besides films music theater. sound was provided by radio. people wishing to see our talk shows how 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 in an orthodox techniques. very difficult to live in one room twenty four hours a day filming your every move. very difficult. to some hard thinking project. he's confined to a small studio. with .

cage to the stadium. ah. public defender of georgia parliament elected human rights. in that role he submitted many media outlets 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. him for his investigations. were interesting.

political scandals the. 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 prime minister died quite unexpectedly under on clear 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. 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 film's release. the intimidation and continued his investigation. at last 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 with 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 of publication either each out its existence or shuts down altogether. advertisers are scared i mean local georgian advertisers and you will. they will always come under pressure from taxes. if they put about for ties months in defiance of. tax inspectors book sales. and so on and so forth. the holding company to publishes the georgian times weekly. only because of other activities its top executive really was branded as a kremlin agent a long time ago for his attempts to establish a dialogue with the russian intellectual elite. 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 go. we realized. some very tough questions. to at least establish a direct woman in a night 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 maxime 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 in high esteem by never been so insulted by anybody the time will come when the people who. will be punished accordingly. india 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. i wish to give gifts. at the airport now. is a move the patriarch of the georgian church is very guarded in his statements he made no public comment on the incident at the airport but when he made he showed the shocking program simulating

a war between russia and georgia he hardly minced his words and expressing his frustration. we do not welcome such programs this is humiliating to individuals and the nation as a whole there is no other country matches the immorality spread in georgia we take first place the. part of the army to join the enemy. this is an insult to our army. there's tremendous guilt people. move through. the program should be made. property is the control. program is one of the signs of that. control intimidation or unemployment. staying in

a shelter for refugees in switzerland he's unable to complete his film about the georgian conflict and. 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. who are they take care of their immigration problems. chances are i myself might come back before october if the government changes. the government. will 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 someday he will be able to finish his work to take his findings back home to his native country.

all. the death toll from wildfires sweeping across central russia rises to fifty two more than thirty five hundred people have been left homeless smoke from forest and he fires the worst the city has ever experienced is choking moscow and disrupting air travel forecasters predict the record breaking heat wave scorching the region is said to continue for at least next week. the new polish

president bronislaw komorowski sworn in for a five year term he succeeds lech kaczynski was killed in a plane crash in russia in april. poland's fourth democratically elected president since the fall of communism in poland twenty years ago meanwhile protests have broken out over a plan to move a memorial cross that was dedicated to the former president. and russia's president dmitri medvedev calls for further reforms to the country's law enforcement bodies he's also suggested a name change known as the movies he has since nine hundred seventeen he's proposed a return to the use of the term police force according to the president new legislation is needed to reflect public demand for a limit on police powers trust in the force has been marred by recent high level corruption cases and rogue officers involved in shooting sprees. next peter lavelle os his guess if the world is drifting into a clash of civilizations and whether culture may have surpassed ideology as

a source of conflict stay tuned cross talk is next here on r.t. . and you can. still. live. hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle in one thousand nine hundred six the late samuel huntington suggested that post cold war conflicts would occur because of cultural rather than ideological differences is culture more powerful than ideology today with the rise of china the islamic world and emerging economies is the world prone to more clashes particularly with the west. berlin can. still live. to discuss of huntington's faeces stands today i'm joined by richard bullock.