Tamar Kintsurashvili, the director-general of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), who is about to resign, has acknowledged that airing a controversial documentary by the GPB about the November events was “a mistake.”

She was speaking on a GPB program, Late-Night Conversations, on February 26, hosted by Davit Darchiashvili. In a relaxed interview, the host asked Kintsurashvili had she made any mistakes.

“I would be self-critical about airing that film about the November events,” Kintsurashvili replied. She, however, also tried to somehow distance herself from the decision, saying she had not seen the film beforehand. “Of course this is still my responsibility,” she acknowledged. “This was a mistake.”

She also denied that the film had been produced by the GPB, even though the credits at the end of the film indicated the station had produced it. Kintsurashvili said this was a technical mistake and instead claimed the Interior Ministry had in fact produced the film.

The film, which claimed that last November's anti-government demonstrations were part of a Russian-backed coup attempt, financed by business tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili and incited by Imedi TV, was widely criticized as Soviet-style propaganda aimed at discrediting political opposition.

Kintsurashvili is set to resign, as a new board of trustees has already been elected by Parliament. Her resignation and a new board of trustees were opposition demands.

Levan Gakheladze, one of the nine board members, said on February 27 that the board would be convened early next week to announce an open competition for the GPB general director position. Although there is no legal timeframe, he said, the board would finalize the selection process as soon as possible.