Photographers in Georgia were released due to broad public resonance, Dito Tikaradze asserts

The intervention of the public and the media played a huge role in the release of the Georgian journalists, who were arrested on charges of espionage for Russia, believe the commentators in Georgia.

Dito Tikaradze, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper "Alia", believes that the society played a decisive role in the release of the photographers.

"The Georgian and foreign media, the Patriarchy, the public and international organizations played a huge role in the release of the photographers. The journalists themselves say that if it were not such a strong international response and support of the media, perhaps, they would not have survived," Dito Tikaradze told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

During the investigation, the Georgian society made an absolutely winning demand – to hold an open trial, states Lasha Tugushi, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper "Resonance".

"We demanded full transparency. We met with the Minister of Internal Affairs, who promised an open trial, and the prosecutor's office stated that the trial will be open. However, in fact, the case was not considered in the trial – the photographers were released, since the procedural agreement with the prosecutor's office had been achieved," Lasha Tugushi said.

According to the journalists and lawyers, the Georgian authorities were unprepared for such a close attention from the society.

"That's why they took such an unprecedented decision – to find the photographers guilty and to release them in the courtroom. Otherwise, the situation would become dangerous for the authorities, because people began to realize that Abdaladze and Kurtsikidze were under custody, but there were no real evidences against them," stated Eka Beseliya, a lawyer.

According to the editors-in-chief of the newspapers and human rights activists, the most difficult in this case was the fact that information on the investigation was closed.