Following the dismissal of Nika Tabatadze from the position of Director-General of the leading private Georgian TV station Rustavi 2, some of the station's journalists are now thinking about resigning.

“One segment of Rustavi 2 TV journalists is most likely to quit the station because they do not believe that they will have the same level of freedom as they had when Nika Tabatadze was Director-General,” Tengo Gogotishvili, one of Rustavi 2 TV's leading journalists, told RFE/RL Georgian Service in an interview on August 31.

Koba Davarashvili, who previously led the advertising company Sarke, has replaced Tabatadze as Rustavi 2 Director-General. Georgian media speculates that Davarashvili is a close friend of Chief of the President’s Administration, Giorgi Arveladze, and there are rumors that the latter masterminded the television station's change of management.

Gogotishvili said that station owner Kibar Khalvashi, reportedly a close friend of Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, has not answered journalists' questions about why Tabatadze was dismissed.

“Of course we all guess that it [Tabatadze’s dismissal] was a political decision made in political circles, but I can not specify anything, because no one explained to us what the reason behind Tabatadze’s dismissal was,” Gogotishvili said.

He said that Nika Tabatadze always managed to maintained a balance between reporting the truth and meeting the demands of the authorities.

“But now, after Tabatadze’s removal, journalists are no longer sure that this balance will be again preserved in favor of truth," said Gogotishvili.

He also said that the group of journalists that are thinking about quitting will make a final decision by September 11.