Gulashvili: detention of Russian journalists in Georgia is a provocation and a huge scandal

Malkhaz Gulashvili, owner of the Media Holding "Georgian Times" and a member of the Russian-Georgian Public Commission, has treated the actions of Georgian frontier guards, who tonight at the International Tbilisi Airport stopped Russian journalists Maxim Shevchenko and Vladimir Mamontov from crossing the Georgian border, as a provocation and a great scandal.

The author of the programme "Judge by Yourself" and the editor-in-chief of the "Izvestia" newspaper arrived in Tbilisi to take part in the roundtable, organized by the members of the Russian-Georgian Public Commission.

"They were told that they couldn't be admitted to the territory of Georgia according to Point 14 of the Constitution of Georgia. The frontier guards didn't explain the point and said that all the information would be available at the Georgia's embassy in Moscow," Mr Gulashvili said in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Alan Kasaev, head of the chief directorate of the RIA "Novosti" for the CIS and the Baltics, came to Tbilisi together with Messrs Mamontov and Shevchenko. However, unlike his colleagues, Mr Kasaev received his visa and was freely let to the territory of Georgia.

"We've arrived to Georgia on the invitation of the Georgian part of the joint Russian-Georgian Public Commission on overcoming humanitarian consequences of the Georgian-Russian conflict. We had planned to hold meetings with the Patriarch Catholicos of Whole Georgia, the vice-speaker of the parliament, representatives of the opposition and intellectuals exclusively on the basis of good will, on the basis of another attempt to smooth the mutual relations of two nations - the Russian and the Georgian," Alan Kasaev has explained and added: "We can only regret about such act like deportation of two members of the Russian-Georgian Commission by frontier authorities of Georgia. This deportation will bring nothing positive."

According to his story, "Georgian members of the commission came to Moscow for several times and faced no problems in crossing the border."

On the other hand, the "Kavkaz-Press" Agency reports with reference to its sources in law enforcement bodies that the journalists were rejected their entrance to Georgia because of their numerous violations of Georgian laws and illegal visits to Abkhazia and Samachablo. As reported by the agency's sources, under the laws, the Georgian party had the right to arrest the infringers at the airport and charge a fine; however, they only decided to deport them from the country.

According to the organizer of the roundtable, despite the attempt to disrupt it, the event will take place.