"Georgian Dream files complaint against Pirveli and Formula TV channels over terms like "oligarch's MP", 3 June 2025

Terms such as “illegitimate parliament,” “so-called parliamentary speaker,” “oligarch’s MP,” and “regime’s city court” have become the basis of a complaint filed by the ruling Georgian Dream party with the national communications commission against the popular opposition channels Formula and TV Pirveli.

Lawyer Tornike Mighineishvili stated that the channels are being accused of violating regulatory provisions of the broadcasting law, which was amended in April 2025. They now face the threat of heavy fines and/or broadcast restrictions...

However, Georgian Dream argues that by using such expressions, the TV stations violated the Broadcasting Law, particularly Articles 54, 59¹, and 76...

Eka Gigauri, Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia:

“It’s clear why Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream is suing critical TV channels TV Pirveli and Formula.

He doesn’t want the public to know the truth about what’s happening in Georgia. If you analyse exactly which news content the ruling party ‘fears’, in other words, what it believes critical media should not report on, you’ll see the pattern:

1. Investigative reports into corruption within the ruling party

Don’t dare publish a story about opaque assets held by officials, fake tenders, the influence of Cartu Bank (owned by Ivanishvili), or deals with Chinese companies.

The government is terrified of questions like: “Who owns this building?”, “Where was this public money spent?”, “Why did a sanctioned company win the tender?”...