Georgian Technical University and Rector, Academician David Gurgenidze, Launch a Court Case Against TV “Pirveli” and “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday Show”
24-11-2025
Georgian Technical University and its Rector, Academician David Gurgenidze, have launched a court case against TV company “Pirveli” and the program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday show”.
According to the Georgian Technical University, on November 22nd of this year, TV company “Pirveli” and the program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday show” aired a story by journalist Maka Chikhladze, which concerned the alienation of the building of the Tsotne Mirtskhulava Research Institute of Water Management at GTU and unsubstantiated allegations of a direct or indirect connection of the university leadership to the aforementioned fact.
Although freedom of the media is one of the fundamental values of the state, this does not give the host or journalist the right to mislead the public, disseminate unverified factual information, or make interpretations that directly damage the reputation of the institution, its head, or employees, and violate generally recognized journalistic standards.
According to the assessment of the Georgian Technical University, the content and spirit of the story aired in the program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday show” - authored by Maka Chikhladze goes beyond the legal boundaries of freedom of speech and falls into the category of defamation, which creates the basis for a legal response from the university.
“The Georgian Technical University and its rector, Academician David Gurgenidze, are filing a lawsuit against TV Pirveli and the program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday show”. The university’s lawsuit is related to a story aired on the TV company on November 22nd of this year, authored by Maka Chikhladze, which was distinguished by the distortion of factual data, one-sided interpretations, biased views, and an attempt to cause deliberate reputational damage in an indirect manner, which goes beyond the legally permissible limits of freedom of speech. The story did not comply with objective and professional standards, as it was mostly based on partially edited and out-of-context materials; in addition, the story created a false association about the possible connection between the university’s legal property transactions and the rector’s personal property. Accordingly, the Georgian Technical University and its rector categorically deny and distance themselves from any assumptions expressed in the story that may indicate the existence of corrupt interests.
Article 41 of the Constitution of Georgia, the Law of Georgia “On Freedom of Speech and Expression” (Article 13, Defamation), and Articles 18 and 19 of the Civil Code of Georgia directly and unambiguously protect the inviolability of the honor, dignity, and business reputation of both individuals and legal entities. Based on the aforementioned norms, the Georgian Technical University states that the opinions of the program host and the author of the story, the content of the story, and the purposeful interpretations contained therein constitute an attempt to defame, distort facts, and cause reputational damage. In addition, the information disseminated by the story clearly fails to meet journalistic ethics and legal standards.
The Georgian Technical University emphatically states that the alienation of the building of the Tsotne Mirtskhulav Water Resources Research Institute was carried out in full compliance with the law and all administrative procedures, by decision of the relevant state structures. The hints voiced in the story, as if the personal property issues of the university rector are connected with the university property management processes, are deliberate disinformation and manipulation with the aim of tarnishing the reputation of a specific institution and creating in the public not only a misconception, but also a sharply negative attitude towards the Georgian Technical University and its rector.
Based on the above circumstances, the Georgian Technical University announces that legal procedures have already been initiated: a lawsuit is being prepared, which will be submitted to the court in the coming days. In addition, the university emphasizes that just as a specific educational institution has its own mission, the rector also bears a special responsibility to the academic and scientific circles, students, and generations of graduates. The essence of this special responsibility also coincides with the great desire to eliminate the unfair practice related to the possible illegal alienation of real estate belonging to the university and to correct the unjust actions and restore justice that have been embedded in the historical memory of the university community. The society has information about the difficult period of our country’s recent history, which affected many families, when many of our compatriots became victims of slander and revanchism - among them were rectors, scientists, and teachers who were unjustly shot, imprisoned, or harassed. The Georgian Technical University believes that similar criminal acts and an analogy to the horrific times should never be encouraged in society again.
Accordingly, based on high public interest, GTU once again states: after the Georgian Technical University began an open and transparent struggle to return the real estate illegally appropriated by the founders of the University of Georgia, attempts to launch a clear and dirty disinformation campaign against the Georgian Technical University and its rector, Academician David Gurgenidze, with the aim of discrediting it, have become especially frequent, which is aimed at deliberately misleading the public.
The issue of returning the illegally alienated real estate of the Georgian Technical University was first initiated in 2020 by the newly elected rector, David Gurgenidze, at a meeting of the University’s Academic Council. The rector’s report concerned the initiation of the process of legal restoration of the real estate owned by the university - objects illegally alienated in 2004-2012. The Academic Council clearly supported the start of the legal process to restore the university’s property rights.
The public announcement of the issue suspiciously coincided with the unexpected interest of the so-called radical media outlets in the processes taking place at the university, under conditions when previously the said media outlets had practically not expressed any professional interest in the activities of the Georgian Technical University, despite the fact that the university’s Public Relations Department regularly invited the media to attend both the meetings of the Academic Council, the Rector’s election process, candidate nomination events, and other public activities.
According to the university, the sudden activation of the “Radical media” along with the disclosure of information about the property dispute creates a reasonable legal suspicion that a specific media actor is deliberately trying to politicize the processes, discredit the Georgian Technical University and its rector, and manipulate public opinion regarding the activities of the educational institution.
Georgian Technical University, as a law-abiding and public interest-oriented institution, requires that media outlets adhere to the principles of fairness, objectivity, impartiality, fact-finding and verification, and professional ethics. The University considers it unacceptable to disseminate such ambiguous material that contradicts the standards of journalistic ethics and aims to misinform the public.
Georgian Technical University openly declares that it will act only through legal means now and in the future, including believing that any attempt to defame, damage institutional and personal reputation should also be prevented in full compliance with the legislation. In addition, Rector, Academician David Gurgenidze expresses his full readiness to provide impartial public space, including the so-called corruption investigators to provide documented information about his personal, family, and university property,” is said in the Georgian Technical University’s statement.
According to the Georgian Technical University, on November 22nd of this year, TV company “Pirveli” and the program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday show” aired a story by journalist Maka Chikhladze, which concerned the alienation of the building of the Tsotne Mirtskhulava Research Institute of Water Management at GTU and unsubstantiated allegations of a direct or indirect connection of the university leadership to the aforementioned fact.
Although freedom of the media is one of the fundamental values of the state, this does not give the host or journalist the right to mislead the public, disseminate unverified factual information, or make interpretations that directly damage the reputation of the institution, its head, or employees, and violate generally recognized journalistic standards.
According to the assessment of the Georgian Technical University, the content and spirit of the story aired in the program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday show” - authored by Maka Chikhladze goes beyond the legal boundaries of freedom of speech and falls into the category of defamation, which creates the basis for a legal response from the university.
“The Georgian Technical University and its rector, Academician David Gurgenidze, are filing a lawsuit against TV Pirveli and the program “Nodar Meladze’s Saturday show”. The university’s lawsuit is related to a story aired on the TV company on November 22nd of this year, authored by Maka Chikhladze, which was distinguished by the distortion of factual data, one-sided interpretations, biased views, and an attempt to cause deliberate reputational damage in an indirect manner, which goes beyond the legally permissible limits of freedom of speech. The story did not comply with objective and professional standards, as it was mostly based on partially edited and out-of-context materials; in addition, the story created a false association about the possible connection between the university’s legal property transactions and the rector’s personal property. Accordingly, the Georgian Technical University and its rector categorically deny and distance themselves from any assumptions expressed in the story that may indicate the existence of corrupt interests.
Article 41 of the Constitution of Georgia, the Law of Georgia “On Freedom of Speech and Expression” (Article 13, Defamation), and Articles 18 and 19 of the Civil Code of Georgia directly and unambiguously protect the inviolability of the honor, dignity, and business reputation of both individuals and legal entities. Based on the aforementioned norms, the Georgian Technical University states that the opinions of the program host and the author of the story, the content of the story, and the purposeful interpretations contained therein constitute an attempt to defame, distort facts, and cause reputational damage. In addition, the information disseminated by the story clearly fails to meet journalistic ethics and legal standards.
The Georgian Technical University emphatically states that the alienation of the building of the Tsotne Mirtskhulav Water Resources Research Institute was carried out in full compliance with the law and all administrative procedures, by decision of the relevant state structures. The hints voiced in the story, as if the personal property issues of the university rector are connected with the university property management processes, are deliberate disinformation and manipulation with the aim of tarnishing the reputation of a specific institution and creating in the public not only a misconception, but also a sharply negative attitude towards the Georgian Technical University and its rector.
Based on the above circumstances, the Georgian Technical University announces that legal procedures have already been initiated: a lawsuit is being prepared, which will be submitted to the court in the coming days. In addition, the university emphasizes that just as a specific educational institution has its own mission, the rector also bears a special responsibility to the academic and scientific circles, students, and generations of graduates. The essence of this special responsibility also coincides with the great desire to eliminate the unfair practice related to the possible illegal alienation of real estate belonging to the university and to correct the unjust actions and restore justice that have been embedded in the historical memory of the university community. The society has information about the difficult period of our country’s recent history, which affected many families, when many of our compatriots became victims of slander and revanchism - among them were rectors, scientists, and teachers who were unjustly shot, imprisoned, or harassed. The Georgian Technical University believes that similar criminal acts and an analogy to the horrific times should never be encouraged in society again.
Accordingly, based on high public interest, GTU once again states: after the Georgian Technical University began an open and transparent struggle to return the real estate illegally appropriated by the founders of the University of Georgia, attempts to launch a clear and dirty disinformation campaign against the Georgian Technical University and its rector, Academician David Gurgenidze, with the aim of discrediting it, have become especially frequent, which is aimed at deliberately misleading the public.
The issue of returning the illegally alienated real estate of the Georgian Technical University was first initiated in 2020 by the newly elected rector, David Gurgenidze, at a meeting of the University’s Academic Council. The rector’s report concerned the initiation of the process of legal restoration of the real estate owned by the university - objects illegally alienated in 2004-2012. The Academic Council clearly supported the start of the legal process to restore the university’s property rights.
The public announcement of the issue suspiciously coincided with the unexpected interest of the so-called radical media outlets in the processes taking place at the university, under conditions when previously the said media outlets had practically not expressed any professional interest in the activities of the Georgian Technical University, despite the fact that the university’s Public Relations Department regularly invited the media to attend both the meetings of the Academic Council, the Rector’s election process, candidate nomination events, and other public activities.
According to the university, the sudden activation of the “Radical media” along with the disclosure of information about the property dispute creates a reasonable legal suspicion that a specific media actor is deliberately trying to politicize the processes, discredit the Georgian Technical University and its rector, and manipulate public opinion regarding the activities of the educational institution.
Georgian Technical University, as a law-abiding and public interest-oriented institution, requires that media outlets adhere to the principles of fairness, objectivity, impartiality, fact-finding and verification, and professional ethics. The University considers it unacceptable to disseminate such ambiguous material that contradicts the standards of journalistic ethics and aims to misinform the public.
Georgian Technical University openly declares that it will act only through legal means now and in the future, including believing that any attempt to defame, damage institutional and personal reputation should also be prevented in full compliance with the legislation. In addition, Rector, Academician David Gurgenidze expresses his full readiness to provide impartial public space, including the so-called corruption investigators to provide documented information about his personal, family, and university property,” is said in the Georgian Technical University’s statement.
