Oppositional TV Channels "Imedi" and "Kavkasia" stopped in Georgia

Broadcasting of the oppositional TV Channel "Imedi" that had earlier belonged to businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili was stopped in Georgia. The operation could be watched live on air: special police fighters rushed into the studio - and the broadcasting stopped. Now, there is no signal of the "Imedi" on air.

Georgiy Targamadze, head of the information service of "Imedi", asked international organizations while speaking live on air to assess and comment on the situation, having noted that President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili had not declared the state of emergency, and the direction of the TV Channel had not received any warnings from law-enforcement bodies, the IA "News-Georgia" reports.

Among the last Channel's stories were the reports from a number of hospitals in the Georgian capital, which were overcrowded by the victims of the dispersal of the oppositional meeting, the "Interfax" reports.

Today evening, another oppositional TV Channel - "Kavkasia" - was also stopped in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The broadcasting signal of this channel disappeared just a couple of minutes after their colleagues from the "Imedi" had been stopped.

"We've been stopped for the reasons known to everyone," a spokesman of the Company's top management explained by telephone. The Company's official said that no representatives of law enforcement bodies ever appeared at their office, the IA "News-Georgia" reports.