Panfilov, head of "Centre of Extreme Journalism", moves to Georgia

A Russian journalist, head of the "Centre of Extreme Journalism" Oleg Panfilov has moved to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, because of the current situation in Russia.

"The main reason of my decision to move to Georgia is the recent situation in Russia. When the country has no freedom of speech and objective information, and people are afraid to freely express their opinions; yes, it has to do with politics," Mr Panfilov has stated.

"I was frequently threatened through the Internet. People expressed their hatred to me, when I defended Georgia; the called me the country's enemy, when I said that the war unleashed a year ago was Russian aggression," he said.

In the near future, the journalist plans to found a school of journalism and write a book about the information campaign, conducted during the Russian-Georgian war, as the "Gazeta.Ru" writes.

In Georgia, Panfilov will also run his analytical programme on the "Caucasian Channel", to start broadcasting in Tbilisi on January 1, 2010, and read lectures at the department of journalism at the Ilya Chavchavadze University.

By other sources, as the "Rosbalt" writes, the news channel will have another name - "The Third Channel of Public TV of Georgia".

The "Kommersant" newspaper wrote on Monday that at the end of the last week the information was confirmed about the start of a new Russian-language TV Channel in Georgia, to be focused on covering news from Northern and Southern Caucasus.

Apart from Oleg Panfilov, the face of the new TV Channel will be Alla Dudaeva, widow of the first President of Ichkeria.