Following an attempted “blackmailing” and “intimidation” of its journalist last week by the law enforce officers, the Batumi-based weekly newspaper Batumelebi said it has appealed the international organizations for support.

The award-winning newspaper said on November 26 that officers from local unit of Interior Ministry’s Special Operations Department tried to persuade its journalist, Tedo Jorbenadze, who coordinates the paper’s investigative reporting team, on cooperation otherwise threatened, including through use of “stigma persisting in Georgia” towards homosexuality.  

“We have been forced to appeal for support to you, the international community, because our security is no longer guaranteed,” the newspaper’s appeal made on November 30 reads. “The Batumelebi and the independent media in Georgia in general have always greatly appreciated support from international media organizations and human rights organizations. We hope that you will support us once again and that you will help us to defend the rights and freedoms that we have as human beings and professionals.”

The newspaper’s publisher, Mzia Amaglobeli, said that Tedo Jorbenadze had already appealed the local prosecutor’s office in Batumi with a request to open an investigation into his case.

A legal advocacy and human rights group, Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), which provides legal assistance to the newspaper over this matter, said that the case represented “a rough violation” of the journalist’s rights and the investigation should be immediately launched to hold perpetrators responsible.