The Interior Ministry’s internal investigations unit has launched a probe into claims by the Batumi-based weekly newspaper, Batumelebi, that its journalist was blackmailed by the law enforcement officers, a senior official from the Interior Ministry said.

Shota Utiashvili, head of the information and analysis department at the Interior ministry, said in brief interview with the public TV’s program, Dialogue with Davit Paichadze, on December 1, that the case “contains clear signs of blackmailing”. He also said that the probe currently focused on efforts to identify those police officers who were, as claimed by the newspaper, attempting to blackmail and intimidate the journalist.

The case has been mainly ignored by the national television station’s news programs, but it was picked up by a newly launched program on the public TV, hosted by journalist Davit Paichadze, which is aired twice in a week.