Georgia Rustavi 2 TV Channel Asks ECHR to Halt Court's Ownership Change Ruling

A legal team representing the Georgian Rustavi 2 broadcaster have requested the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg to suspend the ruling of the country's Supreme Court on handing the TV channel to its former owner, a member of the legal team said Friday.

TBILISI (Sputnik) — On Thursday, the Grand Chamber of Georgia’s Supreme Court ruled that 60 percent of Rustavi 2 shares should be given to its former owner, Kibar Khalvashi, and the remaining 40 percent to his Panorama company. The litigation started in 2015 after the businessman, who considered that he was deprived of the company, filed a lawsuit to reclaim his shares.

"We have applied to the ECHR with a request to suspend the decision of the Supreme Court as a lawsuit enforcement measure until we file a lawsuit to Strasbourg and will substantially consider it," Tamta Muradashvili said, as quoted by the Rustavi 2.

She added that the ECHR could make such a decision only in exceptional cases, but the lawyers were optimistic about the case.

The situation around the broadcaster's shares has already been criticized by several international officials, such as OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic, who said that the TV channel should "enjoy full independence and fulfill its professional activity in the public interest" as the attempts to influence it would undermine media environment in the Caucasian state.