On January 18, the Facebook pages POSTV – Politics and POSTV – Analytics of the pro-government media outlet POSTV shared an information card about the visit of one of the leaders of Strong Georgia, Badri Japaridze, to the United States of America. The information card contains the text: “Lelo’s American visit in one frame,” and the photo shows Badri Japaridze against a wall with the inscription “WC,” a sign indicating a toilet.
A fragment from the program of the Mtavari Arkhi TV company, covering the visit, was published by the Facebook page Fair Monitoring. The footage shows the leader of Strong Georgia talking on the air of Mtavari Arkhi about his visit to America, with the inscription “WC” visible in the background. The video is accompanied by the following description: “Is the elite joining the live broadcast from the toilet? …”
The photo and video featuring Badri Japaridze have been digitally manipulated. In reality, during the broadcast of the show “The Guest of the Day” on Mtavari Arkhi, the wall behind the politician did not feature the inscription “WC,” but only a lamp.
On January 17, one of the leaders of Strong Georgia, Badri Japaridze, appeared live on the “The Guest of the Day” program on Mtavari Arkhi from the United States. The journalist asked Japaridze about the meetings held in the U.S. This segment of the program lasted approximately 15 minutes [23:57 – 39:50], during which Japaridze did not change his location, and consequently, the background behind him remained the same. Throughout the interview, behind Japaridze, we can see curtains, and on the right side of the wall, there is a mounted lamp. It is also noteworthy that in the broadcast of Mtavari Arkhi, there is no photo depicting the U.S. Congress used on the left side.
The leaders of the coalition Strong Georgi” are on an official visit to the United States, where they held meetings with U.S. congressmen to discuss the situation in Georgia. One of the coalition’s leaders, Badri Japaridze, spoke to Mtavari Arkhi about this. According to Badri Japaridze, the representatives of Strong Georgia met with eight congressmen in the U.S., most of whom were from the Republican Party. However, Japaridze noted that both Democrats and Republicans are very critical of autocratic, authoritarian regimes, and consequently, their attitude towards the Georgian Dream is the same as towards other authoritarian regimes.
About the Source
The Facebook profile Fair Monitoring was created on October 16, 2020. The profile link includes the name gu.ga.75033149. In all posts shared by “Fair Blogger,” two profiles, Saka rtvelo and Giorgi Kobauri, are tagged. The profile mostly spreads anti-Ukrainian content (1,2,3).
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