On October 26, pro-government media outlets Imedi (1;2) and Prime Time (1;2) published information claiming that international observer Olesya Vartanyan reported cases where opposition representatives registered as media outlets to justify their presence at polling stations.
The information disseminated by pro-government media about Olesya Vartanyan is manipulative. Vartanyan is not an international observer; she is a citizen of Georgia and an observer for the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA). In addition, besides mentioning opposition representatives, she also wrote about government supporters who are mobilized near polling stations.
Despite the claims of the pro-government media, Olesya Vartanyan is not an international observer. She is an observer for the GYLA during the elections. This information was confirmed to “Myth Detector” by GYLA. Furthermore, Vartanyan is a citizen of Georgia. “Yes, I am a citizen of Georgia and am in a local mission,” she told us.
Additionally, Imedi only covered the post in which Vartanyan mentioned the presence of opposition representatives at polling stations. Notably, the observer also wrote about the mobilization of pro-government supporters near polling stations. Specifically, in another post, Vartanyan wrote:
“Men in dark clothing and sunglasses are at some polling stations. Two I spoke to (off-camera), ethnic Armenians from the neighbourhood, are observers for a new media outlet and openly pro-GD. Notably they avoid stations with prominent activists among observers.”
Moreover, after pro-government media published the quote, Vartanyan wrote that Imedi had ignored her previous statements on X (formerly Twitter) and added false details and fake stories to her words in their coverage.
Irina Parulava
Myth Detector Laboratory
