Switzerland granted asylum to a long-time Georgian investigative journalist, Vakhtang Komakhidze, the Swiss embassy in Tbilisi has confirmed.

Komakhidze, who ran an investigative reporting production studio, Reportiori (Reporter), requested for asylum in Switzerland in February, citing “aggressive threats” coming from the authorities” against him and his family.

He said that threats intensified after he traveled to Tskhinvali in December, 2009 to gather information, as he planned to film a new investigative piece on the August war.