The Mayor of Tbilisi Kakha Kaladze on Friday has released a statement in regard that he will use the compensation from his ongoing lawsuit against the opposition-minded TV Pirveli channel and its journalist Maya Mamulashvili for the benefit of “the people who need it the most.”
Mayor Kaladze on Thursday has launched a legal dispute against the channel and its journalist and is seeking a ₾ 100,000 compensation for the moral damage for a claim on the official obtaining personal benefits.
Meanwhile, the Attorney of Kaladze, Dmitri Gabunia, said in the dispute was centred around a June 5 broadcast of the channel, where Mamulashvili has made a claim that Kaladze had received “₾60 million from only one bid” in a state-tender, and presented the claim as “official information.”
While commenting over the matter, Kaladze noted that the media should be engaged in “criticism, not slander.”
Kaladze added that, “I put up with a lot of slander, insults. Therefore, everything should be decided via the court. A specific journalist will have to provide proof of what she said on the air. As for the money- if we get it, it will go to the families, to the people who are most in need today.”
Kaladze has launched his lawsuit at the Tbilisi City Court on June 20, seeking withdrawal of the “defamatory information” and compensation for formal damages.
The lawsuit was delivered to the channel and Mamulashvili on August 24, with Gabunia mentioning Kaladze’s legal team was seeking to be shown the documentation which are mentioned in the report. While adding this, “If this document is not shown, the channel and reporter should be held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
Kaladze’s attorney also did not rule out that lawsuits against media outlets could obtain a “systemic character” going forward
