On 10 March, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir said that he is concerned by the recent developments in Adjara TV and Radio Public Broadcaster of Georgia, a state-funded media outlet in the autonomous region of Adjara in western Georgia, and about “reported management interference” in the channel’s editorial policy, reported agenda.ge. 

The issues around Adjara TV broke out in spring 2019 when  Natia Kapanadze was dismissed from her position as the director for the broadcast station after four out of five members of the channel’s Advisory Board passed a motion of no confidence against her. Proceedings to remove Kapanadze were initiated by two members of the advisory board, Giga Chkhartishvili, who was endorsed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, and Irakli Darsmelidze, who was endorsed by the opposition United National Movement.

A year before Kapanadze’s dismissal, the OSCE/ODIHR monitoring mission published a report where it cited Adjara TV as “the only TV station that offered viewers a general comparison of contestant platforms.”

Kapanadze said that her dismissal was related to the wish of the Georgian government to exercise control over the channel. Since then several managers and journalists have left the channel with similar accusations.