Accreditations of Critical Media Journalists Suspended
By Messenger Staff
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Georgian Dream parliament has suspended the accreditations of three journalists from opposition-leaning broadcaster TV Pirveli, as similar suspensions reportedly affect reporters at other critical TV stations and online outlets.
TV Pirveli's head of news, Nodar Meladze, said on June 29 that the three journalists are Natalia Kajaia, Maka Chikhladze and Maka Andronikashvili, all of whom work on his investigative program Meladze's Saturday.
Letters shared by Meladze show Kajaia was suspended for one year on June 29, Chikhladze for six months on June 8, and Andronikashvili for one month on June 22. Meladze said the suspensions were issued on unjustified grounds.
In each case, the head of parliament's apparatus cited a rule requiring journalists to stop an interview if an MP, staffer or guest refuses to be recorded. Meladze said the letters never specified whose interview triggered the rule. "The completely vague explanations make the intention behind this ban clear to us," he said. "Their goal is to stop critical questions."
The suspensions follow changes made weeks earlier by the Georgian Dream-dominated parliament to tighten accreditation rules. The new rules allow parliament to revoke accreditation before it expires, extend penalties for repeat violations to up to a year, and punish both individual journalists and their outlets. Parliament has said the changes follow the example of the European Parliament, which suspended a journalist from pro-government Imedi TV for a year in May after he filmed an MEP without consent.
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, an independent media watchdog, criticized the suspensions, saying parliament is becoming one of the most closed institutions in the country, hostile to journalists whose questions some MPs would rather avoid. It called on parliament to stop persecuting journalists and let them work freely.
The suspensions are not limited to TV Pirveli. TV Formula journalist Nini Balanchivadze said on June 26 that her accreditation had also been suspended for six months under the same rule.
Other critical media outlets have faced similar measures in recent weeks. On May 22, parliament revoked the accreditations of online outlets Publika and Studio Monitor, citing their absence from parliament for ten consecutive weeks. Studio Monitor said it would challenge the decision in court.
