in georgia they presented a hypothetical scenario as if it was a real news event most georgians took it at face value panic ensued in the cities. hypertonic crisis and breastpin. why spark hysteria instead of showing the real news who is behind the story to put the whole country in a panic who's to blame for the intimidation of disobedient journalists and one of the means 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 at 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 the sofa.

when the program began my father was sitting here. my mother and grandmother were watching from there. i woke up because mother was screaming about the start of the war. and i saw father lying on the floor. i can't remember clearly what happened next somebody rushed to the neighbors to ask them for help. or messaging my father when there but i'm going to arrive 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. show involving george and 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 recorded all written but it's been reported that the russian troops deployed have been put on a combat. descriptives something straight out of a hollywood action flick the russian tanks approach tbilisi where 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. to meet the standard but that's at eight

thirty an outraged crowd was in front of the building housing the television company. but i guess it's true that one wanted mylan a change of government to listen 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 be otherwise he will demonstrate once again that she's a liar and irresponsible provocator got someone to 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 its any. journalist. investigations and earned him wide popularity long before. him 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 have been imagined that. his last investigation was an attempt to discover real facts concerning the two thousand and eight georgian ascension conflict to find when to see involved 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 freeman to talks in any form and. he addressed the

people of self to say. to say he had a unilateral cease fire. he said. 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 circus really 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 crime. was as if we had launched into. after the volcano explosion. the independent journalist working a set 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 summed up my work 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 a journalist as a traitor. during this work on the film after his return from south. for an interview with european human rights activists in geneva. departure 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. had lots of problems after my return from so . i don't wish to talk about them because whatever i say may hinder the investigation so 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 how do you feel they reduce revolution in them but two thousand and three. to their independence. 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. journalists were denied accreditation and they were telephone calls to the channels 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 end was to take control of the channels i'm to blame for giving away so i didn't want to rock the boat.

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. incurious 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. it's nothing to. into the building of the local administration yesterday i needed to fishel 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. i had fallen to the girl and some of the officials there said it served me right and 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 beaten falls. under mode they chased me in the streets for two days on the third day as i came down the staircase and surrounded me opus the one who was standing right in front of me it's me on my head along with another hit . i fell to the ground and covered my head with my. history they had me again and again my face was covered with blood some up with on my body was aching to give notice. despite the injuries somebody decided not to give up editorial policy remained unchanged.

date.

november two thousand and seven thousands of people. see a 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. as closely followed events for the past week. journalist with the latest reports from the most unexpected places and then it's just as you can see behind my back this is 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 independence special forces troops broke 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 shots in the control room over. here our guests. but i mean if 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 to the former music t.v. channel my. 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. it. was a very high standard. maybe. 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 but they were denied it for nearly six months on our guests had no right to discuss anything besides films music and theater. that's the only word for it. 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 although the my search channel is 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. is very difficult. to some hard thinking project. he's confined to a small studio. and. the

visit. was. in the. public defender of georgia. he submitted many. being threatened. to the parliament. 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. 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 on clear circumstances. as the georgian government said. next. 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 only set out the facts and ask questions without trying to draw conclusions. of 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 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 eats out its existence or shuts down altogether. advertisers are scared i mean local georgia not for. 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 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 realize as a player but we would have to answer some very tough questions. to at least establish a direct. 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 cordoned off the building and took up 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. 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 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 there is no other country matches the. spread in georgia we take first place to. be part of the army to join the enemy. this is an insult to our army. tremendous guilt people. move. freely who decided that the program should be made. property is controlled by himself program is one of the signs of that. control may face 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 and join 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. tell me what you are the take care of your immigration problems. visit you in october chances are i myself might come back before october if the government changes. the government. well yes why not it's cost. us telling stuart king 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 and take his findings back home to his native country.

that's a blanket of smog continues to choke moscow with no relief in sight as wildfires wreak havoc in areas of central russia. i'm going to be with you in just a few moments with more on the fires in the moscow region and the rest of russia stay with us. mourning the victims of aggression it's two years since georgian forces launched a devastating attack on

a sweeping south the city of. bam to the name the russian president says the revolutionary tile militia should be replaced by police to reflect the professional status of law enforcers. this is r t coming to live from moscow i'm marina josh and welcome to the program and with a blanket of harmful smog caused by raging wildfire shows no signs of lifting from across the russian capital forests and p. blazes continue to devastate large swathes of central russia with a record breaking heat away forecast to go wanted to look at least next week while we get our cross live show correspondent going to check on who's in moscow region well guy now we spoke to earlier and behind you there was a six smaug but what's happening there now is getting any better what's the situation. the same catastrophic scene moscow is covered with

a blanket of toxic and. smaug and this very small village just caught fire a few days ago it's rested. while the some three hundred people in the moscow region. are left without their homes in the city itself millions are now choking with the smoke which is carrying some very harmful gases including carbon monoxide and its consistency in the air exceeds the norm by five times imagine you start the engine. with with the doors closed and that's what moscow feels like right now it's especially hard on people who don't have air conditioners and people are trying to escape in malls in offices at the mall i went to yesterday it was packed with people and it is unheard of for this time of the year in moscow when the weather is good elderly peep.