The International Press Institute (IPI) today notes the recent arrest of a riot police officer accused of violently attacking Georgian journalist Guram Rogava, but warns that impunity for such crimes against journalists by security authorities remains widespread.
The arrest of the alleged perpetrator came only after journalistic investigations publicly identified the police officer in question rather than as a result of internal investigations by Georgian law enforcement authorities, IPI said.
This arrest, while a small step forward, does not change the broader picture for the safety of journalists in Georgia, where the overwhelming majority of attacks on media professionals by police and other civilian actors go unpunished.
On 7 May 2026, Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced the arrest of five current and former law enforcement officers for violence against three individuals who were attacked during the 2024 protest in Tbilisi. Among them was the police officer who allegedly attacked Rogava, a prominent Georgian journalist and member of IPI.
The arrested riot police officers have been charged with “abuse of power with the use of violence”. The suspect in the Rogava case will also be charged under Article 154, Part 2, for unlawfully obstructing a journalist’s professional activities through violence. The charges carry prison sentences of five to eight years.
The announcement followed an investigative report by TV Formula, which identified an alleged attacker of Rogava, then a TV Formula journalist, through sources in the Ministry of Interior. Rogava was attacked on 29 November 2024 while covering protests. Footage shared by several media outlets shows a riot police officer striking him as he held a microphone and was filmed by a camera operator.
Rogava sustained serious injuries as a result of the attack, requiring hospitalization and a long rehabilitation process.
Before TV Formula’s report, Rogava’s case, like the vast majority of other attacks on journalists in the last two years by police, private individuals, or public officials, had not been properly investigated. IPI understands this is the first case since major protests began in 2024 in which a police officer has been arrested for the attack on a journalist
According to data on the Mapping Media Freedom platform of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), 148 journalists and other media actors have faced physical attacks in Georgia since 2024.
The source of the attacks in the majority of these documented cases (104) was recorded as having been police and state security forces, with most (111) targeting journalists during demonstrations.
Between November and December 2024, police were documented using tear gas, pepper spray, water cannons and other toxic substances, as well as physical violence against journalists covering peaceful protests, as well as the demonstrators themselves.
The vast majority of these cases remain uninvestigated, perpetuating a culture of impunity. Just in recent days, another IPI member and veteran journalist Gela Mtivlishvili was physically attacked after leaving a live broadcast, suffering facial injuries. Days earlier, Adjaratimes founder Sulkhan Meskhidze and Batumelebi journalist Lela Dumbadze were assaulted while doing their jobs.
IPI lauds the work of the TV Formula team that conducted an investigation into Rogava’s attack and revealed the alleged perpetrator. We demand guarantees for the safety of the report’s authors, including the main author of the investigation Eliso Jariashvili, as well as Rogava himself.
IPI and our global network once again express full support for Georgia’s courageous journalists, who continue their vital work of informing the public and holding those responsible into account despite an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment. We demand they are able to pursue their work without a fear of retaliation.
This individual responsible for the attack on our member Guram Rogava must face justice. However, the cycle of impunity in Georgia can only be broken if all perpetrators are held accountable. IPI will continue to demand full justice and accountability.
This statement by IPI is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries
